different between fastidious vs attentive

English

Etymology

From Latin fast?di?sus (“passive: that feels disgust, disdainful, scornful, fastidious; active: that causes disgust, disgusting, loathsome”), from fast?dium (“a loathing, aversion, disgust, niceness of taste, daintiness, etc.”), perhaps for *fastutidium, from fastus (“disdain, haughtiness, arrogance, disgust”) + taedium (“disgust”). Cf. French fastidieux.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fæ?st?di.?s/, /f??st?di.?s/

Adjective

fastidious (comparative more fastidious, superlative most fastidious)

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

   Synonyms: exacting, fussy, meticulous, niggly, pernickety; see also Thesaurus:fastidious
2. Overly concerned about tidiness and cleanliness.
3. Difficult to please; quick to find fault.

Derived terms

• fastidiously
• fastidiousness

Translations

See also

• finicky

Further reading

• fastidious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• fastidious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• fastidious at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Middle English attentif, attentijf, from Old French attentif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?nt?v/

Adjective

attentive (comparative more attentive, superlative most attentive)

1. Paying attention; noticing, watching, listening, or attending closely.

   She is an attentive listener, but does not like to talk much.

   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 94):

     King-of-the-Sky was sitting alone in the Leeward Village meeting-house, gesticulating to the attentive shades of night, roaring out the genealogy of his ancestors, telling the sleeping world of his greatness.

2. Courteous; mindful.

   a husband attentive to his wife's needs

Synonyms

• audient
• mindful
• reckful

Antonyms

• inattentive, reckless

Translations

See also

• alert
• wary
• watchful

Anagrams

• tentative

French

Adjective

attentive

1. feminine singular of attentif