to be precise
31
3.7
- idiom
- I didn't marry until my fifties--fifty-two, to be precise.
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Watch on YouTubeIt smells like food and to be precise, chocolate and sugar.
- It smells like food and to be precise, chocolate and sugar.
- But we don't really know who's the front runner, to be precise.
- It comes from the days of break dancing, to be precise.
- I was bought with a price, the Son of God on a cross to be precise.
Examples
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Nevertheless, I am a consultant; to be precise, I am a project manager for big IT projects.
Blog text (1) -
I am not a geneticist but a medical doctor, a radiologist to be precise.
Blog text (19) -
Well, to be precise, sir, it always was.
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Six years and nine months, to be precise....
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It's Mayor Johnson, to be precise.
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- To be precise, you are under arrest.
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Well, to be precise, sir...
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Two hours, 57 minutes, to be precise.
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Twenty million, to be precise, according to the author.
Academic text (1992) -
The meeting is scheduled for 3 PM, to be precise.
Synonyms
401
3.6
To explain something just mentioned more clearly, giving the exact meaning
367
3.4
Show that something is exactly right or that you agree
133
3.6
To give one or more examples of something just mentioned
59
3.5
To say something more clearly
16
4.3
If you look at the exact meaning, this is true
1
6.7
Saying what is exactly true or correct
Antonyms
How Precise
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'to be precise' is compositionally derived from 'be' (exist/hold a state) + 'precise' (exact), so a learner who knows both words and the infinitival pattern can infer it means 'to be exact' or 'to state something more accurately.' This discourse-use as a corrective/clarifying marker is common and mirrors constructions in many languages, making it immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
To be precise comes from the simple idea of adding a small, exact detail after a general statement; imagine someone giving a date and then adding one number to make it exact. That's why people say to be precise when they want to give a more 'exact' or 'accurate' fact.