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meticulously

 - 3 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To meticulously
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).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

meticulous 
1535, from L. meticulosus "fearful, timid," lit. "full of fear," from metus "fear," of unknown origin. Sense of "fussy about details" is first recorded in Eng. 1827, from Fr. méticuleux.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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