1
as in choosy
hard to please
a picky cat who would only eat one particular kind of food, and only if it was served in his special dish
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in selective
tending to select carefully
she's picky, but she always finds the best quality in fresh meat and fish
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of picky
Even picky eaters are going to love this take on a classic casserole.
—
Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Feb. 2026
Nora Ephron was a picky person, who worried about all kinds of trivial things.
—Kevin Power, The New York Review of Books, 2 Feb. 2026
Water Quality While the water from your faucet is generally ok for most other houseplants, peace lilies are picky about their water.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 31 Jan. 2026
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, shared tidbits about his three kids with longtime partner Rihanna, detailing everything from how all of his kids were blessed with his looks to how RZA is a picky eater and Riot has a sweet tooth.
—Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for picky
Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Feb. 2026
Nora Ephron was a picky person, who worried about all kinds of trivial things.
—Kevin Power, The New York Review of Books, 2 Feb. 2026
Water Quality While the water from your faucet is generally ok for most other houseplants, peace lilies are picky about their water.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 31 Jan. 2026
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, shared tidbits about his three kids with longtime partner Rihanna, detailing everything from how all of his kids were blessed with his looks to how RZA is a picky eater and Riot has a sweet tooth.
—Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for picky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for picky
Adjective
-
Be choosy about compost and soil amendments.—
Dr. Avishesh Neupane,
Hartford Courant,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Being choosy right now builds your overall financial freedom.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
But today’s investors are more selective, demanding stronger evidence that companies are poised to benefit from the AI boom.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Tropical hibiscus might only need minor selective or corrective pruning in some years and hard pruning in others.—
Nadia Hassani,
The Spruce,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Amazon has hundreds of budget-friendly capsule wardrobe pieces that are perfect for finicky winter-to-spring weather.—
Mariana Best,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Feb. 2026
-
There’s too much little finicky detail.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
14 Feb. 2026
-
As with any sauce, be careful not to over-reduce.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The potluck is chaotic but really nice.—
R29 Team,
Refinery29,
11 Feb. 2026
-
And if there is a next step, that would be nice.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Hays was fussier and cried more.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Brassicas can be a little fussy.—
Samantha Johnson,
Martha Stewart,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
So one person who has also been pretty locked into one particular media path, pretty much his whole life is our guest this week on the show.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
14 Feb. 2026
-
This is a particular problem for Task-Ambience air conditioning (TAAC) systems.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
What’s more, some species are so persnickety that even low-water activity media won’t do the trick consistently.—
Elizabeth Anne Brown,
Scientific American,
20 Jan. 2026
-
The champion’s mindset—persnickety, hyper-critical, focused—is back.—
Frederick Dreier,
Outside,
23 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Picky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/picky. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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