Overparticular

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Excessively attentive to detail; displaying an extreme concern for precision and specifics; being overly meticulous and hard to satisfy with minor imperfections
2. Showing an undue or exaggerated focus on exactness; having a strong tendency to scrutinize every small aspect; acting with excessive fastidiousness and difficulty in accepting anything less than perfect
3. Characterized by an inordinate attention to fine points; marked by a heightened sensitivity to minor faults or errors; demonstrating an obsessive care about details and a reluctance to overlook flaws

Etymology: "Overparticular" is a plain English compound: the prefix "over-" attached to the adjective "particular." "Particular" comes from Latin "particularis," meaning relating to a single part or detail, and in English it came to mean being attentive to individual items rather than the whole. Adding "over-," which in English means "to excess," produces a word for someone who attends to those details beyond what is useful or reasonable. The prefix "over-" is an old native element. Its ancestor was Old English "ofer," which traces back to Proto-Germanic "uber," and it has long been used to intensify adjectives in this way, so "overparticular" follows a familiar pattern rather than a special coinage.

Synonyms: finicky, fussy, fastidious, meticulous

Antonyms: careless, undemanding, easygoing