- Extremely careful and precise.
- Extremely or excessively concerned with details.
[From Latin metīculōsus, timid, from metus, fear.]
meticulosity me·tic'u·los'i·ty (-lŏs'ĭ-tē) or me·tic'u·lous·ness n.meticulously me·tic'u·lous·ly adv.
SYNONYMS meticulous, painstaking, careful, scrupulous, fastidious, punctilious. These adjectives mean showing or marked by attentiveness to all aspects or details. Meticulous and painstaking stress extreme care: “He had throughout been almost worryingly meticulous in his business formalities” (Arnold Bennett). Repairing the fine lace entailed slow and painstaking work. Careful suggests circumspection and solicitude: A careful examination of the gem showed it to be fake. Scrupulous suggests care prompted by conscience: “Cynthia was scrupulous in her efforts to give no trouble” (Winston Churchill). Fastidious implies concern, often excessive, for the requirements of taste: “Your true lover of literature is never fastidious” (Robert Southey). Punctilious specifically applies to minute details of conduct: “The more unpopular an opinion is, the more necessary is it that the holder should be somewhat punctilious in his observance of conventionalities generally” (Samuel Butler).
