Meaning & use
meticulous
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Giving careful attention to every small detail so that something is accurate, complete, or correct.
Grammar: Can take more/most: more meticulous; often followed by about/in/with.
Patterns
- be meticulous about something
- meticulous attention to detail
- meticulous planning/records
She kept meticulous notes during the experiment.
The editor was meticulous about dates, names, and spelling.
A meticulous plan helped the team finish on time.
Word forms
| comparative | more meticulous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most meticulous |
Common combinations
- meticulous attention to detail
- The architect is known for meticulous attention to detail.
- meticulous planning
- Meticulous planning made the move much easier.
- meticulous records
- The clinic keeps meticulous records of every appointment.
- meticulous about accuracy
- He is meticulous about accuracy when entering data.
Synonyms and how they differ
- thorough
- Thorough emphasizes completeness; meticulous emphasizes care for fine details.
- painstaking
- Painstaking stresses effort and slowness; meticulous stresses precision.
- careful
- Careful is general; meticulous is stronger and suggests checking details.
- precise
- Precise describes exactness; meticulous describes the careful work or person producing exactness.
Opposites
Word family
- meticulously adverb
- In a very careful and detailed way.
- meticulousness noun
- The quality of being careful with details.
Commonly confused: meticulous or fastidious?
meticulous vs fastidious
Fastidious often means very hard to please or concerned with cleanliness; meticulous focuses on accurate, detailed work.
Practice
Choose the best phrase.
Choose one answer.
The standard preposition is about: meticulous about details. The other prepositions may appear with some adjectives, but they are not the normal pattern with meticulous.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “meticulous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.