exacting

[ig-zak-ting]

adjective

1. rigid or severe in demands or requirements.

   an exacting teacher.

2. requiring close application or attention.

   an exacting task.

3. given to or characterized by exaction; extortionate.

exacting

/ ɪɡˈzæktɪŋ /

adjective

1. making rigorous or excessive demands

   an exacting job

Other Word Forms

• exactingness noun
• exactingly adverb
• nonexacting adjective
• nonexactingly adverb
• nonexactingness noun
• overexacting adjective
• superexacting adjective
• unexacting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of exacting¹

First recorded in 1575–85; exact + -ing ²

Example Sentences

It may be contentious, but it is also the action of someone increasingly comfortable in his own skin in this exacting job.

Read more on BBC

The iconic chef represented the type of presenter Burrell was drawn to: exuberant, exacting, joyful in her pedagogy.

Read more on Salon

In South Korea too, a rising number of young people have been voluntarily cutting themselves off from a highly competitive and exacting society.

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When I ask Yamaguchi what she thinks ties her works together, she says, “They’re incredibly time-consuming and exacting,” and, she adds with a smile, “they have a contrarian streak.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Crazy Mama,” about a housewife intent on exacting vengeance on the men who murdered her husband, highlighted Demme’s desire to recognize women’s ongoing struggles against a patriarchal world.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• harsh 
• imperious 
• onerous 
• painstaking 
• precise 
• rigid 
• rigorous 
• strict 
• stringent