How to Use finicky in a Sentence

finicky

adjective
  • My teacher is finicky about grammar.
  • Track athletes can be quite finicky about their footwear.
    Steve Soucie, Daily Southtown, 20 May 2018
  • Rose scents are finicky — people either love them or hate them.
    Shannon Barbour, The Cut, 24 Apr. 2018
  • For a long time, Bluetooth keyboards were too finicky to be worth the cost.
    Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 14 May 2018
  • But constructing such a finicky instrument wasn’t easy.
    Alexandra Witze, Scientific American, 28 Apr. 2018
  • Single atoms are finicky, so using the machine requires patience and precision.
    Sophia Chen, WIRED, 23 May 2018
  • Heirlooms were too finicky, the yields too low, the orders too small—ten thousand pounds from farmers accustomed to growing two million.
    Junot Díaz, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Workers use a scraper to flatten the finicky stickers and incorporate needles to let the air bubbles out.
    Jeff Greer, The Courier-Journal, 16 Mar. 2018
  • Compared to that, the remote is a welcome reprieve, but unfortunately also finicky.
    Eric Ravenscraft, WIRED, 23 July 2024
  • Baking is a finicky endeavor, and baking books are the most challenging cookbooks to write because mere details can separate good cake from bad.
    Alice Medrich, WSJ, 13 Apr. 2018
  • The two big ones were the back—which swapped out the 5T's durable metal for a fragile glass slab—and the fingerprint reader, which is smaller and more finicky than last year.
    Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 23 May 2018
  • But the more advanced vapes were either unattractively large or required users to monitor finicky temperature settings, coils, and wicks.
    Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 7 May 2018
  • But these services all faced the same problem: There’s no time in the lives of busy professionals for yet another finicky computer program.
    Nicholas Thompson, WIRED, 24 May 2018
  • In the case of the latest hotel tower, the result is something highly modern and elegant, marked by nice touches that can withstand the finicky demands of design trends.
    Michael James Rocha, sandiegouniontribune.com, 29 Apr. 2018
  • The dissolution of Uber’s relationship with Google demonstrates the finicky nature of the ties that bind — or break — tech conglomerates and promising start-ups.
    Daisuke Wakabayashi, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2018
  • There is absolutely no need for even the finicky driver to explore the X3’s embarrassment of adjustability riches.
    Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, 25 Jan. 2018
  • Even when the motor is in place, though, the clock is finicky.
    Mike Damiano, BostonGlobe.com, 15 June 2023
  • Among the ranks of the finicky, the Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk is unique.
    Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Mar. 2021
  • Avoid finicky recipes that need to be prepared one at a time.
    Audrey Bruno, SELF, 16 Nov. 2018
  • The dish has always felt costly and finicky to achieve.
    Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2021
  • Turn the head of your finicky feline with a yummy, healthy treat.
    Christina Vercelletto, CNN Underscored, 4 Dec. 2019
  • Does Allred have the ability to coax finicky voters to the polls?
    Gromer Jeffers Jr., Dallas News, 5 May 2023
  • One thing to note, the zippers can become finicky and stick at times.
    Michelle Rostamian, Peoplemag, 27 Sep. 2023
  • There are so many flavors there will be at least one for even the most finicky.
    Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 3 June 2023
  • Even for chefs, cooking salmon can be finicky to get just right.
    Maggie Hennessy, Bon Appétit, 6 Dec. 2023
  • Picky eaters may also be finicky about their treats and snacks.
    Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 23 Oct. 2022
  • The sound quality wasn't great, and the controls were finicky.
    Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 7 Oct. 2018
  • The best part is that it can all be done with the click of a button—no finicky dials or levers.
    Jenna Clark, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Sep. 2023
  • The Ohio River faces the same kind of finicky fecal problems.
    Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 23 July 2024
  • The aging dragster—the same car Rompelberg used in 1995—proved finicky.
    Jason Gay, WSJ, 17 Sep. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'finicky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: