punctilio

American  

[puhngk-til-ee-oh] / pʌŋkˈtɪl iˌoʊ /

noun

punctilios plural

1. a fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure.

2. strictness or exactness in the observance of formalities or amenities.

---

punctilio British  

/ pʌŋkˈtɪlɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. strict attention to minute points of etiquette

2. a petty formality or fine point of etiquette

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• punctilios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of punctilio

First recorded in 1590–1600; alteration of Italian puntiglio, from Spanish puntillo, diminutive of punto, from Latin pūnctum point

Explanation

Any custom of etiquette can be called a punctilio, especially if it seems a bit silly. Your grandfather's punctilio of announcing his name when he answers the phone might seem silly to you. Men holding doors open for women seems pretty old fashioned to many young people — and a little bit sexist, too. Some older men, however, will stick to this punctilio because they feel it would be rude not to do it. Punctilio comes from the Spanish puntillo, or "little point."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

punctilio punctilios

They combined, then as now, a wild bureaucratic adherence to punctilio and procedure with entanglements of cohort and clan that could shortcut the procedure in a moment.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 8, 2017

There lingers, even in our mercantile age, an admiration for the aristocratic ethos, the punctilio, of the duel.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2015

Protocol, punctilio, politesse suddenly drop, leaving Tennyson’s “Nature, red in tooth and claw.”

From BusinessWeek ● Sep. 29, 2011

Diplomats who stressed punctilio, protocol and politesse were out of their class when they tangled with him.

From Time Magazine Archive

He knows how early she rises, and that no coquettish punctilio as to being first at the rendezvous will hinder her, if she is sooner ready than he.

From Doctor Cupid by Broughton, Rhoda

Communist party congresses are usu ally thoroughly predictable, ritualistic affairs, and for a time last week the Twelfth Congress of the Italian party in Bologna observed the punctilios.

From Time Magazine Archive

"He's right, you know; those things do tell," Crosstrees had said to me when I had attempted to be jocose about these punctilios.

From The Fixed Period by Trollope, Anthony

"I may be sorry that he is not more clean-handed; but I tell you again, Tom, they never indulged such punctilios in our young days, and I 'm too old to go to school again!"

From Barrington Volume II (of II) by Lever, Charles James

His most noble master had been greatly harassed with affairs—the Duke's approaching visit to Rome, the precise forms which must be observed, the punctilios, the hundred niceties of etiquette; "Ah, patienza!" urged the sweating Mosca.

From Little Novels of Italy by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

All punctilios were trampled under foot by the impetuosity of Ormond.

From Ormond, Volume II (of 3) or, The Secret Witness by Brown, Charles Brockden