pickier; pickiest
: very careful or too careful about choosing or accepting things : fussy, choosy
a picky eater
Because pen collectors are a picky lot, and some antiques dealers who are not in the pen business can overlook the details of condition, there is occasional friction.—
Bill Holland
Bill HollandWith rising ticket prices and new competition from cable TV, cost-conscious families may be pickier about the movies they choose to see.—David Ansen and Martin Kasindorf
David Ansen and Martin Kasindorf
pickiness
noun
Taylor mocks Zavala for the size of his extended Mexican family, their endless chatter and the frequency of their quinceaneras. Zavala ribs Taylor for his white-person pickiness about artisanal coffee and marriage.
—Belinda Luscombe
Belinda Luscombe
Now jobless and forced to live with five housemates in San Jose, Calif., she comes away from every job interview discouraged by employers' pickiness.
—Daniel McGinn
Daniel McGinn
Examples of picky in a Sentence
a picky cat who would only eat one particular kind of food, and only if it was served in his special dish
she's picky, but she always finds the best quality in fresh meat and fish
Recent Examples on the Web
The Perks of Free Kids Meals for Parents Omni’s new summer offer puts a spotlight on the pain points of traveling with picky eaters.
—Liz Regalia, Parents, 7 July 2025
In Materialists, Lee plays Trevor, one of Lucy's more picky clients whose entire dating criteria revolves around finding a woman who's fit and has a BMI under 20.
—EW.com, 14 June 2025
Good tenants are hard to find, and Norah is a picky landlord, and an entertaining one.
—Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 11 June 2025
Finding fault that someone is smiling is really picky.
—Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for picky
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Liz Regalia, Parents, 7 July 2025
In Materialists, Lee plays Trevor, one of Lucy's more picky clients whose entire dating criteria revolves around finding a woman who's fit and has a BMI under 20.
—EW.com, 14 June 2025
Good tenants are hard to find, and Norah is a picky landlord, and an entertaining one.
—Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 11 June 2025
Finding fault that someone is smiling is really picky.
—Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for picky
Cite this Entry
“Picky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/picky. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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