high-maintenance

adjective

high-main·​te·​nance ˈhī-ˈmānt-nən(t)s 

-ˈmān-tə-nən(t)s

1

: requiring a large amount of care or maintenance

The high-maintenance "Dracula" orchid constantly needs high levels of humidity and cooler temperatures.

—Victoria Colliver

They can't even afford the high-maintenance hairdos, let alone the Adidas sweats.

—Gerri Hirshey

2

of a person : tending to cause problems or demand attention : extremely sensitive, demanding, or temperamental

Playing the victim gets you absolutely nowhere, and it only makes you seem tiring and high-maintenance to your boss.

—Cosmopolitan

Matthäus is the greatest German sweeper since Beckenbauer, but he's high-maintenance. At various times in his career, he has accused a ref of taking bribes, scrapped with a teammate and, three years ago, ripped his universally beloved German teammate Jürgen Klinsmann in a tell-all book.

—Jeff Bradley

Examples of high-maintenance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s a summary of Han’s assessment of personas represented by a traditional Thanksgiving dish: Turkey: The high-maintenance star. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2024

But this is kind of like a high-maintenance process. —Bon Appétit, 9 Oct. 2024

Looks like Pascal, The Golden Bachelorette's high-maintenance Frenchman, is going to have to find someone else to do his laundry. —Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 4 Oct. 2024

Say goodbye to your high-maintenance litter pan and invest in the Litter-Robot 4 today. —Bridget Degnan, Peoplemag, 7 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1