pernickety
/pəˈnɪk.ɪ.ti/adjective
pernickety is spelled P-E-R-N-I-C-K-E-T-Y: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 180,281st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, pernickety means “Fussy; paying undue attention to minor details; fastidious” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in pernickety?
| Letters | 10: P-E-R-N-I-C-K-E-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 35 million words; the 180,281st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is pernickety?
Pernickety appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 180,281st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pernickety?
- UK /pəˈnɪk.ɪ.ti/
- UK /pəˈnɪk.ə.ti/
- Australia /pəˈnɪk.ə.ti/
Pernickety has 4 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pernickety.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with pernickety?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pernickety from its last stressed vowel (/ɪkɪti/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of pernickety
- more pernickety comparative
- most pernickety superlative
- persnickety
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pernickety mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
CommonwealthIrelandUKFussy; paying undue attention to minor details; fastidious.
- 2
Requiring attention to minor details.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pernickety in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pointilleux, tatillon, pinailleur |
| German | kleinlich, pingelig, etepetete, penibel, übergenau , kritisch |
| Spanish | punctilloso, puntilloso, quisquilloso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pernickety come from?
From Scots pernickety, persnickety, apparently from per- + nick (“a notch, mark, cutting retort”) + -et (“-ed”) + -y; equivalent to English per- + nick + -ety; literally, “marked up”, then “overly precise”. The alternative form persnickety, with s, may be due to substitution of Scots sneck (“a cut, notch”) for nick. Compare also Scots variants pernicked, pernicket, pirnicky, and pernicky.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).