Definition
挑剔 (tiāo ti) means to be picky or nitpick, focusing on minor faults in details. It describes a general attitude of being hard to please, unlike 嫌 (xián) which is about disliking something for a specific reason, or 挑 (tiǎo) in 挑刺/挑毛病 which emphasizes actively pointing out flaws.
verb
to be picky aboutto find fault withto nitpick
Examples
- 挑剔,。Tā duì zhùsù tiáojiàn fēicháng tiāo ti, měi cì dōu yào jiǎnchá hěn jiǔ.He is very picky about accommodation conditions and checks everything for a long time every time.
- 挑剔,。Lǎobǎn zǒng shì tiāo ti yuángōng de gōngzuò xìjié, ràng dàjiā hěn jǐnzhāng.The boss always nitpicks the details of employees' work, making everyone nervous.
- 挑剔,。Tā mǎi yīfu shí hěn tiāo ti, shì le shí jǐ jiàn cái juédìng.She is very picky when buying clothes; she tried on over a dozen pieces before deciding.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.