Definition of "fastidious" []

• Possessing or displaying careful, meticulous attention to detail. (adjective)
• Difficult to please; exacting. (adjective)
• Excessively scrupulous or sensitive, especially in matters of taste or propriety. See Synonyms at meticulous. (adjective)
• Microbiology Having complicated nutritional requirements. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He stopped to wait for the prisoners to pass, his expression fastidious and filled with contempt."
• "Ward had certain fastidious instincts, and he rebelled inwardly at eating, sleeping, and cooking all in one small room."
• "His palate is tender, and, in one sense, might be called fastidious; nothing is more sensitive or more easily shocked."