high-maintenance

English

Etymology

According to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the figurative sense was popularized by the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally....

Adjective

high-maintenance (comparative more high-maintenance, superlative most high-maintenance)

1. (of a system) Requiring a high degree of maintenance to ensure proper functioning, and without which it is likely to break down.
2. (figuratively, derogatory, of a person) Requiring a lot of attention or reassurance; emotionally needy

   He has this incredibly high-maintenance girlfriend; if he doesn't tell her that he loves her every five minutes, she tends to break down into hysterical depressive weepy fits.

   • 1989, Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally...‎^[2] (motion picture), spoken by Harry Burns (Billy Crystal):

     There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.

Antonyms

• low-maintenance

Translations

requiring a high degree of maintenance to ensure proper functioning, and without which it is likely to break down

• Hungarian: sok törődést igénylő

(of a person) requiring a lot of attention or reassurance; emotionally needy

• Hungarian: sok odafigyelést/törődést igénylő

See also

• brittle
• finicky
• temperamental