Meanings
comparative more demanding · superlative most demanding
- Making great demands in terms of quality, quantity, accuracy or other criteria; difficult to satisfy.
Near-synonyms: see Thesaurus:fastidious
2 more examples
Our wines will satisfy even the most demanding of connoisseurs.
When you love someone, it's natural, not demanding / And that's one thing I'm proud to say I found in you / I'm so glad we reached an understanding / Now I know my heart is safe with you, ooh
1982, Shalamar, “A Night to Remember”, in FriendsSynonyms: exacting, open-mouthed, authoritarian, autocratic, bossy, coercive, commanding, controlling
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of demand
plural demandings
- The act of making a demand.
She had had enough whimperings and demandings this morning to last her a week, and her face hardened as a tear rolled down Sarah's cheek.
2012, Janet Haslam, Rachel's Daughter
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveRequiring much endurance, strength, or patience.
adjectiveMaking great demands in terms of quality, quantity, accuracy or other criteria; difficult to satisfy.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiverequiring more than usually expected or thought due; especially great patience and effort and skill
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*de
- Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
- Proto-Italic*dē
- Latindē
- Latindē-
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)meh₂-
- Proto-Italic*manus
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰéh₁t
- Proto-Italic*manuðō
- Latinmandō
- Latindemandāre
- Old Frenchdemander
- Middle Englishdemaunden
- Englishdemand
- Englishdemanding
Translations
Bulgarian напрегнат, взискателен
- напрегнат (napregnat)requiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- взискателен (vziskatelen)making great demands; difficult to satisfy
- придирчив (pridirčiv)making great demands; difficult to satisfy
Catalan exigent
- exigentrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
Czech náročný
- náročnýrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
Dutch veeleisend
- veeleisendmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
Finnish vaativa, vaatelias
- vaativarequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- vaateliasmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
- vaativamaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
- tarkkamaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
French éprouvant, exigeant
- éprouvantrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- exigeantrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- exigeantmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
German anspruchsvoll, wählerisch
- anspruchsvollmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
- wählerischmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
Greek απαιτητικός, απαιτητικός
- απαιτητικός (apaititikós)requiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- απαιτητικός (apaititikós)making great demands; difficult to satisfy
Hungarian megerőltető, nehéz
- megerőltetőrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- nehézrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- fárasztórequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- munkaigényesrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- igényesmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
- szigorúmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
- nagyigényűmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
- kényesmaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
Japanese きつい
- きつい (kitsui)requiring much endurance, strength, or patience
Norwegian Bokmål krevende
- krevenderequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
Polish wymagający, wymagający
- wymagającyrequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- wymagającymaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
Russian тре́бующий уси́лий, напряжённый
- тре́бующий уси́лий (trébujuščij usílij)requiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- напряжённый (naprjažónnyj)requiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- тре́бовательный (trébovatelʹnyj)making great demands; difficult to satisfy
- взыска́тельный (vzyskátelʹnyj)making great demands; difficult to satisfy
Spanish exigente, exigente
- exigenterequiring much endurance, strength, or patience
- exigentemaking great demands; difficult to satisfy
Ukrainian вимогли́вий, вибагли́вий
- вимогли́вий (vymohlývyj)making great demands; difficult to satisfy
- вибагли́вий (vybahlývyj)making great demands; difficult to satisfy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with demanding
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
demanding. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demanding
“demanding.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demanding. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “demanding,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demanding.
Source: demanding on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.