hard-to-please

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Explanation of "hard-to-please"

Definition: The term "hard-to-please" is an adjective used to describe someone who is difficult to satisfy or make happy. If a person is hard-to-please, they often have high expectations and are not easily satisfied with things, whether it's food, service, or other aspects of life.

Usage Instructions:

• Use "hard-to-please" to describe someone's personality or attitude.
• It is often used in both positive and negative contexts. For example, a hard-to-please customer might expect very high quality in service.

Example:

• "My friend is very hard-to-please when it comes to choosing a restaurant; she always finds something wrong with every place we go."

Advanced Usage:

• You can also use "hard-to-please" in more complex sentences:
  • "Despite the chef's best efforts, the critic remained hard-to-please, always finding flaws in even the finest dishes."

Word Variants:

• The phrase can be modified by adding "more" or "most":
  • "She is more hard-to-please than anyone I know."
  • "He is the most hard-to-please person in our family."

Different Meanings:

• While "hard-to-please" primarily refers to people, it can also describe situations or conditions that are difficult to satisfy:
  • "The weather has been hard-to-please lately, switching from hot to cold."

Synonyms:

• Some synonyms for "hard-to-please" include:
  • Fussy: Someone who is overly particular about details.
  • Finicky: Very attentive to detail; hard to satisfy.
  • Difficult: Not easy to satisfy or deal with.
  • Picky: Choosing carefully, often to the point of being difficult.

Idioms:

• There are no direct idioms for "hard-to-please," but you might hear phrases like:
  • "You can’t please everyone." This means that it is impossible to satisfy all people at once, so trying to do so may lead to frustration.

Phrasal Verbs:

• While there are no specific phrasal verbs for "hard-to-please," you can use verbs like "put off" or "turn off" in related contexts, such as:
  • "His constant complaints put off the staff because he was so hard-to-please."

Summary:

In summary, "hard-to-please" describes someone who is difficult to satisfy and has high expectations. It can be used in various contexts to highlight someone's picky nature or demanding attitude.

Academic

Adjective

1. (of persons) "his father was a hard-to-please taskmaster"
   • was very hard to please

Synonyms

• hard-to-please
• hard to please