exacting
Americanadjective
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rigid or severe in demands or requirements.
an exacting teacher.
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requiring close application or attention.
an exacting task.
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given to or characterized by exaction; extortionate.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exacting
Explanation
Use the adjective exacting to describe something or someone very precise or strict in its requirements. If your teacher has exacting standards about spelling and punctuation, you better carefully check your final paper. An exacting person expects things to be, well, exact. For this reason, demanding is a good synonym. Friends who are exacting might let you have it if you show up a minute or two late. Some exacting people are extremely selective about what they eat, rejecting anything that doesn't meet their complicated standards of nutrition and taste.
Vocabulary lists containing exacting
Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "E" and "F"
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Letters to a Young Poet
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His reputation as an exacting director precedes him.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
The government's "ambitious target" to halve the gap was "right and welcome", she added, but said it had to be "more exacting" about how to achieve it.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
In a sign of the toll market volatility is exacting, the stock-exchange operator has postponed the launch of options for four blue-chip stocks amid concerns that the market has overheated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Yet other, more controversial projects, exacting irreversible change to capital institutions, are facing greater opposition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
All that afternoon she directed toward me calculated words that spawned in my mind a horde of invisible demons bent upon exacting vengeance for what I had done.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
