exacting
Americanadjective
-
rigid or severe in demands or requirements.
an exacting teacher.
-
requiring close application or attention.
an exacting task.
-
given to or characterized by exaction; extortionate.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- exactingly adverb
- exactingness noun
- nonexacting adjective
- nonexactingly adverb
- nonexactingness noun
- overexacting adjective
- superexacting adjective
- unexacting adjective
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.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, however, supplied the argument’s most exacting skepticism, and likely the cleanest window into which a center-right majority might land.
From Slate • Apr. 10, 2026
It's a highly anticipated journey that demands exacting precision -- but there's still room for the astronauts to live out their childhood dreams of spaceflight.
From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026
While the aviation industry has exacting safety standards for aircraft design and certification, there isn’t an international agreement on what qualifies as safe when flying in conflict zones.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
Both sweet and bashful, Kikuo and Shunsuke quickly grow close, enduring Hanjiro’s exacting requirements as he shapes them to be graceful, disciplined performers.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026
Other girls proudly wrote out their exacting routines of work and study to astound their loving parents.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
