finick

[ fin-ik ]

verb (used without object)

1. to affect extreme daintiness or refinement.
2. to trifle or dawdle.

Word History and Origins

Origin of finick¹

First recorded in 1700–10; back formation from finical

Example Sentences

But getting it into place was sometimes a bit of a struggle, and I often had to finick around with its position before it would click in.

From The Verge

The cultural belief, inherited from the Victorians, that girls should be most interested in sewing and working with paper, were limiting the lessons girls learned from making her toys: “The little girl deals with ‘wee’ things: stitches are small, dolls are small; there is a fatal tendency sometimes to ‘niggle,’ to ‘finick’—not that men-folk are immune from this—to love uniformity and tidiness for their own sakes, to seek regularity rather than utility.”

From Slate

I was too busy enjoying the rest of the book to finick over minor details.

From The Guardian

They will sit and finick over a boulder for hours taking aim, and when they fire running it is chiefly for stage effect.

From Project Gutenberg

The ladies, in their pretty language, signalized him as a 'finick.'

From Project Gutenberg