high-maintenance
adjEtymology According to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the figurative sense was popularized by the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally....
1
Of a system Requiring a high degree of maintenance to ensure proper functioning, and without which it is likely to break down.
2
Derogatory, Figuratively, Of a person Requiring a lot of attention or reassurance; emotionally needy
- He has this incredibly high-maintenance girlfriend; if he doesn't tell her that he loves her every five minutes, she tends to break down into hysterical depressive weepy fits.
- There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.1989, Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally... (motion picture), spoken by Harry Burns (Billy Crystal):
- Antonyms
- low-maintenance
- Related terms
- brittle, finicky, temperamental