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meticulosity

- 2 dictionary results

me⋅tic⋅u⋅lous

[muh-tik-yuh-luhs]
–adjective
1. taking or showing extreme care about minute details; precise; thorough: a meticulous craftsman; meticulous personal appearance.
2. finicky; fussy: meticulous adherence to technicalities.

Origin:
1525–35; < L metīculōsus full of fear, fearful, equiv. to metī- for metū- (s. of metus fear) + -culōsus, extracted from perīculōsus perilous


me⋅tic⋅u⋅lous⋅ly, adverb
me⋅tic⋅u⋅lous⋅ness, me⋅tic⋅u⋅los⋅i⋅ty [muh-tik-yuh-los-i-tee] , noun


1. exact, strict, scrupulous. See painstaking.


1, 2. careless.
me·tic·u·lous   (mĭ-tĭk'yə-ləs)   
adj.  
  1. Extremely careful and precise.
  2. Extremely or excessively concerned with details.

[From Latin metīculōsus, timid, from metus, fear.]
me·tic'u·los'i·ty (-lŏs'ĭ-tē), me·tic'u·lous·ness n., me·tic'u·lous·ly adv.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean showing or marked by attentiveness to all aspects or details. Meticulous and painstaking stress extreme care: "He had throughout been almost worryingly meticulous in his business formalities" (Arnold Bennett). Repairing the fine lace entailed slow and painstaking work.
Careful suggests circumspection and solicitude: A careful examination of the gem showed it to be fake.
Scrupulous suggests care prompted by conscience: "Cynthia was scrupulous in her efforts to give no trouble" (Winston Churchill).
Fastidious implies concern, often excessive, for the requirements of taste: "Your true lover of literature is never fastidious" (Robert Southey).
Punctilious specifically applies to minute details of conduct: "The more unpopular an opinion is, the more necessary is it that the holder should be somewhat punctilious in his observance of conventionalities generally" (Samuel Butler).
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