pernickety

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective characterized by excessive precision and attention to trivial details

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

persnickety

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