High-maintenance

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

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

    "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."

Example

More examples

"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."

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....

More for "high-maintenance"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.