Literary notes about fastidious (AI summary)
The word "fastidious" has been employed in literature to capture a range of meanings—from refined taste and meticulous precision to a certain humorous or even critical portrayal of excessive fussiness. In some works, it describes characters with an admirable attention to detail and high standards, as when Nietzsche notes that those wielding power have grown fastidious in their refined preferences [1], or when Jane Austen alludes to a character’s affectation of fastidiousness in his demeanor [2]. Conversely, the term is also used to cast a critical light on individuals who become overly particular about trivial matters, such as the fastidious caprices lamented by Anne Brontë [3] or the humorous reference to fastidious fairy behavior [4]. This versatility in usage underscores how "fastidious" can denote both a praiseworthy exactitude and a tiresome tendency toward over-refinement, depending on the context and the author’s intent.
- He who already possesses power, however, has grown fastidious and refined in his tastes; few things can be found to satisfy him.
— from The Dawn of Day by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - He is fastidious and will have an affectation of his own.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Do you think I’m going to be made the talk of the country for your fastidious caprices?’
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë - Next morning she found that the fastidious fairy had left the food untouched.
— from British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Wirt Sikes
