Pernickity

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Excessively concerned with small details and difficult to please, often insisting on things being exactly right
2. Showing a fussy, meticulous attitude that demands precision and finds fault with minor imperfections
3. Being overly exacting and hard to satisfy, especially about trivial matters of taste, order or presentation

Etymology: "Pernickety" (also spelled "pernickity") is a Scottish word whose origin is genuinely uncertain. The most cited suggestion is that it comes from "pernicky," a dialect term that was long recorded in Scots as meaning something like "trivial" or "particular," but the link is not firmly established, and nobody has documented a clear ancestor for it. What is well attested is the timeline. The word appears in print in Scotland in the early 1800s and was used in the sense of being exacting over small points, with the idea of fussiness about trifles already built in from the start. It moved into standard English during the nineteenth century, and the spelling "pernickety" became the more common form in British usage, while "pernickity" is a recognised variant. The word's sound and shape have led some to imagine a Latin or French source, such as "pernicious," but that is a coincidence of form. "Pernicious" comes from a Latin word meaning destructive, and the two have no documented connection.