1
Core quality
Extremely attentive to detail, accuracy, cleanliness, or correctness.
Example
A fastidious researcher recorded even minor deviations from the protocol.
fastidious
/fæˈstɪdiəs/ · fa-STID-ee-usadjective
Extremely attentive to detail, accuracy, cleanliness, or correctness.
Use fastidious to express this relationship precisely: extremely attentive to detail, accuracy, cleanliness, or correctness.
What fastidious Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Attributive or predicative use
Use this adjective before a suitable noun or after a linking verb such as be or seem.
Example
The restoration was fastidious in its attention to original materials.
3
Analytical distinction
Choose it when this exact descriptive quality matters; a related word may overlap without conveying the same trait.
Example
His fastidious insistence on exact formatting delayed publication.
Use fastidious Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
A fastidious researcher recorded even minor deviations from the protocol.
The restoration was fastidious in its attention to original materials.
His fastidious insistence on exact formatting delayed publication.
Precision Matters
Fastidious overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
fastidious
vs.Means extremely attentive to detail, accuracy, cleanliness, or correctness.
meticulous
Means extremely careful and precise.
fastidious
vs.Means extremely attentive to detail, accuracy, cleanliness, or correctness.
scrupulous
Means extremely careful about details, accuracy, or ethical correctness.
fastidious
vs.Means extremely attentive to detail, accuracy, cleanliness, or correctness.
assiduous
Means showing persistent care, attention, and effort.
fastidious
vs.Means extremely attentive to detail, accuracy, cleanliness, or correctness.
superficial
Means concerned only with the surface or obvious features; shallow and lacking depth.
Test fastidious in Context
She shows exceptionally exacting attention to detail and accuracy.
1
The editor was so ___ that she checked every citation against the original source twice.