persnickety

adj

Etymology: From Scots persnickety, whence also pernickety. More at pernickety.

1. US standard form of pernickety.

   “Marjorie glanced up and down the long street. “Well, I never in my life saw so many different kinds of houses!” she exclaimed. “Aren’t they funny! Why, they look almost like people. Look at that little persnickety one over there — the white, white one with the green, green blinds — doesn’t it look exactly like —””

   “I have just read the article in your issue for May 16 on dialectic English. The word tempest recalls the surprise I felt at the beginning of three years' residence on Cape Cod to hear the word used commonly as an exact synonym for thunderstorm. Persnickety I have been accustomed to use in the sense attached to perjinkety, that is, over-fastidious. I do not know how the word was acquired or how common its use is.”