pernickety
adjUK /pəˈnɪk.ɪ.ti/ · AU /pəˈnɪk.ə.ti/
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.
1
Commonwealth, Ireland, UK Fussy; paying undue attention to minor details; fastidious.
- ‘You must forgive me,’ he said. ‘I take a ridiculous pleasure in what I eat and drink. It comes partly from being a bachelor, but mostly from a habit of taking a lot of trouble over details. It’s very pernickety and old-maidish really, but then when I’m working I generally have to eat my meals alone and it makes them more interesting when one takes trouble.’1953, Ian Fleming, chapter 8, in Casino Royale, page 48:
2
Requiring attention to minor details.
- Derived terms
- finickity, pernicketily, pernicketiness