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Synonyms

meticulously

American  
[muh-tik-yuh-luhs-lee] / məˈtɪk jə ləs li /

adverb

  1. in a way that shows extreme care about minute details; in a precise and thorough way, sometimes to an excessive degree.

    He'd had collections of various kinds as a kid, each of them meticulously sorted and, yes, even inventoried.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of meticulously

meticulous ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

If you clean your house meticulously, you take plenty of time and scour every single nook and cranny, maybe even behind the oven and under the doormat. Meticulous means extremely careful and thorough, so if you do something meticulously, you are painstaking about doing it perfectly. Someone who would never leave her house with an un-ironed t-shirt or a thread hanging loose is someone who dresses meticulously. If your town historian documents every event, from births to remodeled living rooms, then she does her job meticulously, maybe a little too meticulously.

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Vocabulary lists containing meticulously

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.

"So make sure you've studied the situation in the landing zone meticulously in advance."

From Science Daily • Jun. 30, 2026

Each frame is meticulously constructed; every beat of the script brims with passion.

From Salon • Jun. 22, 2026

Keaton, who died from primary bacterial pneumonia at the age of 79, spent years meticulously renovating the Sullivan Canyon abode.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026

At his factory west of Tokyo, workers in hygienic uniforms wash, steam -- and lavishly spray bacteria on -- soybeans that machines then meticulously assemble in cups, before fermenting them for 18 hours.

From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026

Delicate silver and gold threads unraveled and wove themselves into the fragile wings of the frozen mariposas, converting the tiny creatures into magical designs stitched meticulously into the bodice of La Llorona’s gown.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

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