Word.ws English Dictionary

sticklerism

sticklerism noun: the behaviour of a stickler; inflexible adherence to rules.

Noun

sticklerism (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory) The behaviour of a stickler; inflexible adherence to rules.
    • “We, the intellectually curious, may soon find ourselves trapped in a pen, fenced in by rule-bound sticklerism and overzealous concern for our personal safety, unless we exercise our civil liberties and our curiosity,” he declaims.2009 June 10, Dwight Garner, “For Those Who Like Danger, the Home Book of Things Not to Try at Home”, in New York Times

Synonyms of sticklerism

Origin of sticklerism

From stickler + -ism.

Questions about sticklerism

What does sticklerism mean?
Sticklerism means the behaviour of a stickler; inflexible adherence to rules.
What part of speech is sticklerism?
Sticklerism is a noun.

Words near sticklerism in the dictionary

  1. stickled
  2. Sticklepath
  3. stickler
  4. Stickler syndrome
  5. sticklerish
  6. sticklerism
  7. sticklers
  8. stickles
  9. stickless
  10. sticklewort
  11. Stickley

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sticklerism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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