Skip to main content
meticulous

meticulous

58 8.6
Being very careful about small details
  • adjective
  • /məˈtɪkjələs/
translation icon : minucioso
  • The Adventuress Club keeps meticulous records of all our members' achievements.
  • meticulous attention
  • meticulous detail
  • meticulous care

That is my only job, and I am meticulous and rigorous in pursuing that goal.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Yeah, on today's episode, we will be paying meticulous attention to details.

  • Objectives here need to be selected with meticulous care to include quality knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

    Academic text (1999)
  • So you have to be really meticulous and look, we feel we're the only ones.

  • I think this guy's a real meticulous director.

  • You were so meticulous about so many things.

  • Before the Times would publish the story, they went through a meticulous fact checking process.

  • Preparations for winter in the NHS have been more extensive and meticulous than ever before.

  • In other words, I need handlers and people who are meticulous and organized.

  • He was a meticulous coach, every detail, no stone was left unturned.

  • The architect was meticulous in her designs, ensuring every detail was perfect.

Synonyms

exact
vsmeticulous
901 3.2

Completely correct in every small detail

emphasizes careful attention rather than only factual exactness
detailed
vsmeticulous
353 3.7

Having many small parts or facts that you can see

focuses more on exact carefulness than merely listing many details
precise
vsmeticulous
286 3.6

Exactly correct and clear about small details

is similarly careful but stresses careful attention rather than pure exactness
thorough
vsmeticulous
205 4.6

Shows careful attention to every detail and leaves nothing out

leans more toward precise attention to tiny details rather than overall completion
particular
vsmeticulous
106 4.4

Careful about small details and hard to please

shares attention to detail but is less judgmental about others
painstaking
vsmeticulous
13 6.1

Being very careful and using a lot of effort

is about careful precision more than sustained hard effort
fastidious
vsmeticulous
8 8.0

Very careful about small details and being clean, often hard to please

is careful and precise but less about being hard to please
persnickety
vsmeticulous
  • Informal
4 9.8

Being very picky about small details

is careful and precise while avoiding informal fussy tone
scrupulous
vsmeticulous
3 7.2

Careful to do things correctly and notice small details

shares careful detail focus but is less about moral correctness
thoroughgoing
vsmeticulous
2 7.7

Done completely and carefully, leaving nothing out

is more narrowly about careful precision than general completeness
punctilious
vsmeticulous
  • Formal
1 8.9

Being very careful about small details and correct behaviour

is more about careful accuracy than formal correctness
minute
vsmeticulous
  • Formal
6.4

Very careful about small details

is careful and precise but applies to all levels of detail
pernickety
vsmeticulous
  • UK
9.4

Being very careful about small details in a way that annoys others

is careful and precise without necessarily being excessive or fussy
overly fussy
vsmeticulous
6.1

Too worried about small details and hard to please

is careful and precise rather than excessively particular or hard to please

Antonyms

155 2.0

Untidy and done without care

14 1.0

A lack of attention that causes mistakes or harm

How Careful

fastidious
8 8.0
meticulous
58 8.6
thorough
205 4.6
careful
1.0
attentive
61 3.0

Surface Forms

meticulous positive
meticulouser comparative
meticulouest superlative

Morphology

meticulous = meticul + ous

Although the suffix '-ous' is productive, the root 'meticul' is not a recognizable English base and the modern sense ('very careful') has shifted away from the original Latin sense, so learners cannot reliably derive the meaning from its parts.

Etymology

Meticulous comes from an old Latin word metus, which means 'fear'. Imagine someone who is afraid of making mistakes and so checks every small detail carefully; that's why meticulous now means very careful and exact.