accuracy

American  

[ak-yer-uh-see] / ˈæk jər ə si /

noun

accuracies plural

1. the condition or quality of being true, correct, or exact; freedom from error or defect; precision or exactness; correctness.

2. Chemistry, Physics. the extent to which a given measurement agrees with the standard value for that measurement.

3. Mathematics. the degree of correctness of a quantity, expression, etc.

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accuracy British  

/ ˈækjʊrəsɪ /

noun

1. faithful measurement or representation of the truth; correctness; precision

2. physics chem the degree of agreement between a measured or computed value of a physical quantity and the standard or accepted value for that quantity

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hyperaccuracy
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• accuracies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of accuracy

First recorded in 1655–65; accur(ate) + -acy

Explanation

Accuracy refers to a lack of mistakes or errors. "I type very fast, but the accuracy of my typing is n't very goode." Accuracy is a must for anyone who works in a precise profession. Would you trust a surgeon who lacks accuracy to remove your appendix? His lack of precision might result in the accidental removal of your spleen. A meteorologist with questionable accuracy isn't going to be popular either, especially when it rains every time he predicts a sunny day.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

accuracy accuracies

Mr. O’Connell relates this tale with verve, but also with impressive accuracy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Analysts have also raised doubts over the reliability and accuracy of Iran's missile arsenal, which the US says has been severely degraded by its strikes.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

He informed viewers that the network “has not seen the evidence yet and is not in a position to evaluate the accuracy of the president’s statement and claims.”

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Although the hardware was modest, the results reached state-of-the-art levels of accuracy.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

The uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics implies that certain pairs of quantities, such as the position and velocity of a particle, cannot both be predicted with complete accuracy.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Still, though, the ALA's reliance on media accounts and reports from librarians remains a confounding variable in the numerical accuracies, as the body has previously noted.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2024

"The chip can perform high-speed analog computation with ultrabroad processing bandwidths of 67 GHz and excellent computation accuracies," said Feng Hanke, PhD student of EE and the first author of the paper.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2024

“That report was not completely accurate but there’s some accuracies in it,” said Jayna Hefford, a four-time Olympic gold medalist for Canada who is the PWHPA’s lead operations consultant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2023

Let the D.C. curriculum reflect the historical accuracies, including the murder — the Holocaust — of millions, particularly Jews, during World War II.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 19, 2023

I am called a man of science, a man with a passion for accuracies.

From The Blue Wall A Story of Strangeness and Struggle by Child, Richard Washburn

Related Words

• certainty
• efficiency
• skill
• truthfulness
• veracity