Fussy means hard to please over small details. A fussy eater, fussy about it, not fussy.
It criticises the scale of the concern rather than the concern itself, which is why it is a complaint rather than a description — the same care called fussy by one person is called particular by another. Of a design it means overdecorated. Not fussy, said of a choice, means having no preference. Note fuss, fussing.
1adjectivefussyHard to please over small details.
“My son is such a fussy eater that he won't touch anything green.”
synonyms: picky, particular
2adjectiveoverdecoratedOverdecorated.
“The room was too fussy, with flowery wallpaper, frilly curtains and china ornaments everywhere.”
fussy is a quality of over-particularity.
Danish
fjas — nonsense
English
fuss
English, today
fussy
From fuss + -y. fuss Of unknown origin. Perhaps from Danish fjas (“nonsense”), from Middle Low German - (compare German faseln (“to maunder, talk nonsense”)). Compare also fouse (“to hasten, rush, tumble, disarrange”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA