meticulous

adjective me·tic·u·lous \mə-ˈti-kyə-ləs\

: very careful about doing something in an extremely accurate and exact way

Full Definition of METICULOUS

: marked by extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details <a meticulous researcher>

— me·tic·u·los·i·ty \-ˌti-kyə-ˈlä-sə-tē\ noun

— me·tic·u·lous·ly \-ˈti-kyə-ləs-lē\ adverb

— me·tic·u·lous·ness \-nəs\ noun

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Examples of METICULOUS

Always meticulous about his appearance in the past, he had become dirty and unkempt, with straggly hair, stained clothes, and patches of silver stubble on his chin. —Minette Walters, Fox Evil, 2002
She was very much the craftswoman, all her work meticulous, slow, perfect. —Simon Winchester, The Professor and the Madman, 1998
In dense, meticulous arguments … Brooten mounts an assault on that view. —Cullen Murphy, Atlantic, August 1993
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Origin of METICULOUS

Latin meticulosus fearful, irregular from metus fear

First Known Use: 1827

Related to METICULOUS

Synonyms: careful, conscientious, fussy, loving, painstaking, scrupulous

Antonyms: careless

Synonym Discussion of METICULOUS

careful, meticulous, scrupulous, punctilious mean showing close attention to detail. careful implies attentiveness and cautiousness in avoiding mistakes <a careful worker>. meticulous may imply either commendable extreme carefulness or a hampering finicky caution over small points <meticulous scholarship>. scrupulous applies to what is proper or fitting or ethical <scrupulous honesty>. punctilious implies minute, even excessive attention to fine points <punctilious observance of ritual>.