Punctilious

Pronunciation

• GenAm IPA: /pʌŋkˈtɪliÉ™s/

Origin

From punctilio + -ous

Full definition of punctilious

Adjective

1. Strictly attentive to detail; meticulous or fastidious, particularly to codes or conventions.With a punctilious slap of the gloves, the duel was now inevitable.
2. Precise or scrupulous; finicky or nitpicky.
• 2009, Ronnie Cann, Ruth Kempson and Eleni Gregoromichelaki, Semantics: an introduction to meaning in languageOf course, humans do not treat time in such a punctilious fashion.

Synonyms

Derived terms

• punctiliously
• punctiliousness

Related terms

• point
• punctuate
• punctual
• punctuality
• punctuation