Fas*tid`i*os"i*ty (?), n. Fastidiousness; squeamishness. [Obs.] Swift.
Fas*tid"i*ous (?), a. [L. fastidiosus disdainful, fr. fastidium
loathing, aversion, perh. fr. fastus arrogance (of uncertain origin) +
taedium loathing. Cf. Tedious, Fash.] Difficult to please; delicate to
a fault; suited with difficulty; squeamish; as, a fastidious mind or
ear; a fastidious appetite.
Proud youth ! fastidious of the lower world.
Young.
Syn. -- Squeamish; critical; overnice; difficult; punctilious. --
Fastidious, Squeamish. We call a person fastidious when his taste or
feelings are offended by trifling defects or errors; we call him
squeamish when he is excessively nice or critical on minor points, and
also when he is overscrupulous as to questions of duty. "Whoever
examines his own imperfections will cease to be fastidious; whoever
restrains his caprice and scrupulosity will cease to be squeamish."
Crabb.
-- Fas*tid"i*ous*ly, adv. -- Fas*tid"i*ous*ness, n.
{ Fas*tig"i*ate (?), Fas*tig"i*a`ted (?), } a. [L. fastigium gable end,
top, height, summit.] 1. Narrowing towards the top.
2. (Bot.) Clustered, parallel, and upright, as the branches of the
Lombardy poplar; pointed.
3. (Zoˆl.) United into a conical bundle, or into a bundle with an
enlarged head, like a sheaf of wheat.
Fast"ish (?), a. Rather fast; also, somewhat dissipated. [Colloq.]
Thackeray.
Fast"ly, adv. Firmly; surely.
Fast"ness, n. [AS. fÊstnes, fr. fÊst fast. See Fast, a.] 1. The state
of being fast and firm; firmness; fixedness; security; faithfulness.
All . . . places of fastness [are] laid open.
Sir J. Davies.
2. A fast place; a stronghold; a fortress or fort; a secure retreat; a
castle; as, the enemy retired to their fastnesses in the mountains.