choosy

«choosy» in Mova's school dictionary: Very careful about what you choose, and hard to please… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (choosy, choosier, choosiest) — informal

meaning for a pupil

(informal) Very careful about what you choose, and hard to please, especially about food, clothes or friends. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life it describes picky eaters and shoppers. Phrases: «Beggars can't be choosers», meaning if you need help you must accept what you are given. In nature lessons, some animals are «choosy» about mates or food. It can be a fair or a slightly critical word.

examples

• My little brother is choosy about his food. tree →
• Cats can be very choosy eaters. tree →
• She is choosy about which books she reads. tree →
• Don't be so choosy, just pick a sweet! tree →
• The female bird is choosy about her mate. tree →
• You can't be choosy when you are starving. tree →

note

Informal adjective: choose + -y (drop the e). Comparatives: choosier, choosiest. Similar: picky, fussy. Spelling trap: choosy, not «choosey» (that spelling is sometimes seen but less common).

In the corpora

• Choosy pets nearly always have a reason.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «choosy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.