Kim Marcus
Did you know?
If you’re a reader of a certain age (say, a Boomer, Gen Xer, or even a Xennial), you may remember cheeky television commercials featuring Morris, a finicky housecat who only eats a certain brand of cat food. (Morris is still featured on product labels.) Morris's tastes in cuisine are not only very particular, but very fine as well, and that's appropriate given the origin of finicky. The word came about as an alteration of finicking, itself an alteration of another adjective, finical. It's believed that finical derives from the adjective fine.
Examples of finicky in a Sentence
Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 28 Mar. 2025
At one point, a pre-recorded announcement interrupted Jane Fonda’s lifetime achievement award acceptance speech, and several presenters, such as Andrew Scott and Adam Brody, had to deal with finicky microphones.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 23 Feb. 2025
Of course, trying to observe finicky birds in remote habitats full of uncontrollable variables may mean that this particular test would not be resolved anytime soon.
—Jason Bittel, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2025
But our biggest gripe with the classic Cuisinart design is how finicky these elements can be.
—Wilder Davies, Bon Appétit, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for finicky
Cite this Entry
“Finicky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/finicky. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share