precision
Americannoun
-
precisions
plural
-
the state or quality of being precise.
-
accuracy; exactness.
to arrive at an estimate with precision.
- Synonyms:
- rigor
-
mechanical or scientific exactness.
a lens ground with precision.
-
punctiliousness; strictness.
precision in one's business dealings.
-
Mathematics. the degree to which the correctness of a quantity is expressed.
-
Chemistry, Physics. the extent to which a given set of measurements of the same sample agree with their mean.
adjective
noun
-
the quality of being precise; accuracy
-
(modifier) characterized by or having a high degree of exactness
precision grinding
a precision instrument
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of precision
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin praecīsiōn-, stem of praecīsiō “cutoff”; equivalent to precise + -ion
Explanation
Use the noun precision to describe something that's exact, such as the work of a carpenter who's made 100 identical pieces of railing for a grand staircase. Precision is similar to perfection in that both words suggest that something could not possibly be better. However, perfection describes something that's flawless, such as a beautiful sunset. Precision, on the other hand, is more about accuracy, like computing the exact second that the perfect sunset will occur.
Vocabulary lists containing precision
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 5
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Scientific Method
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
There is precision here, but there is also abundant joy.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
It was a rare moment of precision in front of goal, another illustration that despite their issues in scoring goals, Scotland have a promising array of strikers these days.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Both humans and AIs think in ways that are intuitive, subconscious—and difficult to describe with precision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Engineers designated a small section of each detector to rapidly monitor a different guide star -- stars whose positions are already known with high precision.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
Chaol delivered each blow with such precision that Dorian had to admire him.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
And yet an EUV alone is a nearly miraculous human achievement, capable of working at scales and precisions that are difficult to fathom.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
“We can create these models that basically let us know the time of arrival to precisions that rival atomic clocks,” says Thankful Cromartie, an astrophysicist at Cornell University and a member of NANOGrav.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 28, 2023
It’s in these precisions that the historical and sociological force of her work registers.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 6, 2023
They will have to decide which qubits in the computer to use and how to deal with ranges of operational fidelities and low-level precisions that are foreign to most modern programmers.
From Nature ● Sep. 12, 2017
Life is not a mumble mumble but a clear voice teeming with precisions.
From Gargoyles by Ben Hecht
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.
