Standard Lemma guide

pernickety

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /pəˈnɪk.ɪ.ti/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /pəˈnɪk.ə.ti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /pəˈnɪk.ə.ti/
  • Australian: [pəˈnɪk.ə.ɾi]
  • rhymes with -ɪkɪti
  • rhymes with -ɪkəti

1

adj

Meaning 1

Fussy; paying undue attention to minor details; fastidious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: niggly, persnickety, anal-retentive, choosy, conscientious, dainty, exacting, fastidious, finical, finicking, finickity, finicky, finikin, fussy, hypercritical, lily-handed, meticulous, nitpickish, nit-picky, nitty, overcritical, overscrupulous, particular, pedantic, pernickety, picky

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Requiring attention to minor details.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

characterized by excessive precision and attention to trivial details

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a persnickety job
  • a persnickety school teacher

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: persnickety

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Scots pernickety, persnickety, apparently from per- + nick (“a notch, mark, cutting retort”) + -et (“-ed”) + -y; equivalent to English per- + nick + -ety; literally, “marked up”, then “overly precise”. The alternative form persnickety, with s, may be due to substitution of Scots sneck (“a cut, notch”) for nick. Compare also Scots variants pernicked, pernicket, pirnicky, and pernicky.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: дребнав (drebnav) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Bulgarian: педантичен (pedantičen) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Czech: pedantský — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Czech: puntičkářský — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Czech: hnidopišský — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Dutch: pietepeuterig — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Dutch: pietluttig — paying undue attention to minor details
  • French: pointilleux — paying undue attention to minor details
  • French: tatillon — paying undue attention to minor details
  • French: pinailleur — paying undue attention to minor details
  • German: kleinlich — paying undue attention to minor details
  • German: pingelig — paying undue attention to minor details
  • German: etepetete — paying undue attention to minor details
  • German: penibel — paying undue attention to minor details
  • German: übergenau — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Norwegian Bokmål: pirkete — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Norwegian Bokmål: spissfindig — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Norwegian Bokmål: minutiøs — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Russian: приди́рчивый (pridírčivyj) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Russian: разбо́рчивый (razbórčivyj) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Russian: привере́дливый (priverédlivyj) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Russian: въе́дливый (vʺjédlivyj) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Russian: суетли́вый (sujetlívyj) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Russian: дото́шный (dotóšnyj) — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Serbo-Croatian: ситничав — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Serbo-Croatian: sitničav — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Spanish: punctilloso — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Spanish: puntilloso — paying undue attention to minor details
  • Bulgarian: щекотлив (štekotliv) — requiring attention to minor details
  • Danish: pernittengrynet — requiring attention to minor details
  • French: pointilleux — requiring attention to minor details
  • French: tatillon — requiring attention to minor details
  • French: pinailleur — requiring attention to minor details
  • German: kritisch — requiring attention to minor details
  • German: genau — requiring attention to minor details
  • German: heikel — requiring attention to minor details
  • Russian: щекотли́вый (ščekotlívyj) — requiring attention to minor details
  • Russian: то́нкий (tónkij) — requiring attention to minor details
  • Spanish: puntilloso — requiring attention to minor details