punctilious

American  

[puhngk-til-ee-uhs] / pʌŋkˈtɪl i əs /

adjective

1. extremely attentive to punctilios; strict or exact in the observance of the formalities or amenities of conduct or actions.

   Synonyms:

   conscientious, careful, demanding, precise

   Antonyms:

   careless

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punctilious British  

/ pʌŋkˈtɪlɪəs /

adjective

1. paying scrupulous attention to correctness in etiquette

2. attentive to detail

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Related Words

See scrupulous.

Other Word Forms

• punctiliously adverb
• punctiliousness noun
• unpunctilious adjective
• unpunctiliously adverb
• unpunctiliousness noun

Etymology

Origin of punctilious

First recorded in 1625–35; punctili(o) + -ous

Example Sentences

“Yermak was more a sort of instinctual negotiator…Budanov has his instincts, but I think he’s going to be much more punctilious about the preparations.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

By its very nature the justice system is glacial, methodical, punctilious, and backward-looking in ways that make keeping up with the well-resourced, wealthy career criminal supremely challenging.

From Slate • Oct. 25, 2024

And that doesn’t even include the host of honest mistakes that can and do occur filling out the mountains of punctilious paperwork after a 16-hour day.

From Salon • Sep. 15, 2024

Some manufacturers use methods such as filters and roasting to produce teas with fewer PAHs in their Lapsang Souchong, and some are more punctilious than others about the wood they use to produce said smoke.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2022

British readers of The New Yorker who assume that this august publication is in constant ignorant error when it allows “1980’s” evidently have no experience of how that famously punctilious peri-odical operates editorially.

From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author