methodical
Americanadjective
-
performed, disposed, or acting in a systematic way; systematic; orderly.
a methodical person.
-
painstaking, especially slow and careful; deliberate.
adjective
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Related Words
See orderly.
Other Word Forms
- antimethodic adjective
- antimethodical adjective
- antimethodicalness noun
- methodically adverb
- methodicalness noun
- nonmethodic adjective
- nonmethodical adjective
- nonmethodicalness noun
- premethodical adjective
- quasi-methodical adjective
- unmethodic adjective
- unmethodical adjective
- unmethodicalness noun
Etymology
Origin of methodical
First recorded in 1560–70; methodic, from Latin methodic(us) or directly from Greek methodikós; method, -ic + -al 1
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.
Having a methodical plan and a clear structure can help you get started but she cautions that you can burn out by locking in too much.
From BBC
But for more than three months now, Blinken has provided a continuous stream of facile rhetoric to support the ongoing methodical killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
From Salon
There is a degree of sophistication from the perpetrators, who are often well-planned, methodical and forensically aware.
From BBC
He army-crawls slowly across the mountain, inspecting the ground inch by methodical inch.
From National Geographic
He said the Civic Coalition to Save Lives was “methodical and very disciplined in making sure that every person we talked to had a baseline understanding of what it is we were talking about.”
From Washington Times
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.