Dainty vs Fastidious - What's the difference?

As adjectives the difference between dainty and fastidious

is that dainty is excellent; valuable, fine while fastidious is excessively particular, demanding, or fussy about details, especially about tidiness and cleanliness.

As a noun dainty

is esteem, honour.

dainty

English

Noun

(dainties)

(obsolete) Esteem, honour.

A delicacy.

* 1719 , (Daniel Defoe), (Robinson Crusoe)

my case was deplorable enough, yet I had great cause for thankfulness that I was not driven to any extremities for food, but had rather plenty, even to dainties .

* (William Cowper)

[A table] furnished plenteously with bread, / And dainties , remnants of the last regale.

(Canada, Prairies and northwestern Ontario) A fancy cookie, pastry, or square served at a social event (usually plural).

(obsolete)

(Ben Jonson)

Adjective

(er)

(obsolete) Excellent; valuable, fine.

*, II.13:

Heliogabalus the most dissolute man of the world, amidst his most riotous sensualities, intended, whensoever occasion should force him to it, to have a daintie death.

Elegant; delicately small and pretty.

* Milton

Those dainty limbs which nature lent / For gentle usage and soft delicacy.

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.}}

Fastidious and fussy, especially when eating.

* Francis Bacon

They were a fine and dainty people.

* Shakespeare

And let us not be dainty of leave taking, / But shift away.

Synonyms

* neat * petite

References

fastidious

English

Adjective

(en adjective)

Excessively particular, demanding, or fussy about details, especially about tidiness and cleanliness.

* 2008 , Robert Fisher, Memory Road , [http://books.google.com/books?id=TGyAvuZt5VoC&pg=PA37&dq=his+fastidious+nature+clean&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4WCLUNmDLbPF0AGpmoDgDQ&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBQ]:

His fastidious nature had been evident in his careful snipping of a customer's hair and now he guided his pencil with the same adroitness.

* 2004 , Maria Osborne Perr, Ravished Wings , [http://books.google.com/books?id=GEno70HQAQgC&pg=PA153&dq=his+fastidious+nature+clean&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4WCLUNmDLbPF0AGpmoDgDQ&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAw]:

As she cleaned the room daily, she knew it was against his fastidious nature to bring or have food in his room.

* 2003 , Lynsay Sands, Single White Vampire :

* He had at first tried to clean up as they ate, his fastidious nature kicking in, but Chris had told him to just stop, he was blocking the TV.

Difficult to please; quick to find fault.

* 1897 , ,

"It's burn[t], M'sieur," said Marie Louise, politely, but decidedly, to the utter confusion of Mr. Billy, who was as mortified as could be at the failure of his dinner to please his fastidious little visitor.

* 1881 , ,

You're too fastidious, and too indolent, and too rich.

Synonyms

* (excessively particular) exacting, fussy, meticulous * See also

External links

* * *