Meaning & use
precision
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Meanings
noununcountable
The quality of being exact and careful in detail, with no vagueness or needless error.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: with precision, not with a precision.
Patterns
- with precision
- the precision of something
The surgeon worked with great precision.
She described the route with such precision that we never got lost.
The watchmaker admired the precision of the tiny gears.
noununcountabletechnical
In measurement, how closely repeated readings agree with each other or how many fine details a value shows.
Grammar: Often contrasted with accuracy: a precise scale can still be wrong.
Patterns
- the precision of a measurement
The lab upgraded its scales to improve the precision of its readings.
Reporting results to three decimal places suggests more precision than the method allows.
High precision does not guarantee that the instrument is calibrated correctly.
nounbefore a noun
Designed for work that must be very exact; used before another noun.
Grammar: Works like an adjective in front of a noun: precision tools.
Patterns
- precision tools
- precision engineering
The factory makes precision parts for medical devices.
He bought a set of precision screwdrivers for repairing phones.
Precision engineering is a major industry in the region.
Common combinations
- with precision
- The dancers moved with remarkable precision.
- great precision
- The map was drawn with great precision.
- mathematical precision
- The pattern repeats with mathematical precision.
- precision instrument
- A precision instrument must be stored carefully.
- lack of precision
- Teachers complained about the lack of precision in the instructions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- exactness
- Exactness is a plainer word for being exactly right, while precision stresses fine detail and care.
- accuracy
- Accuracy means closeness to the truth, whereas precision means consistency and fine detail.
- rigor
- Rigor suggests strict thoroughness in method or argument, not just exact detail.
Opposites
Word family
- precise adjective
- exact and clear
- precisely adverb
- exactly
- imprecise adjective
- not exact
- imprecision noun
- lack of exactness
Commonly confused: precision or accuracy?
precision vs accuracy
Accuracy is closeness to the correct value; precision is how exact or repeatable something is, so a result can be precise but inaccurate.
Practice
Every shot landed in nearly the same spot, but far from the target. The archer showed high ____ but low accuracy.
Choose one answer.
Tight grouping of results is precision. Accuracy would mean hitting the target, so the contrast works only with precision.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “precision”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.