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

Explanation

A punctilious person pays attention to details. Are you always precisely on time? Is your room perfectly neat? Do you never forget a birthday or a library book's due date? Then you are one of the punctilious people. The adjective punctilious, pronounced "punk-TIL-ee-us," is related to the Italian word puntiglio, meaning "fine point." For someone who is punctilious no point is too fine, no detail too small, to be overlooked. The word is often used to describe people, but it can be used more broadly to apply to observations, behavior, or anything else that is characterized by close attention to detail.

Example Sentences

John McPhee, a punctilious user of reference material, has written that he mostly looks up words he already knows to better apprehend their nuances.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

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

At work, Heuermann’s punctilious approach rubbed some people the wrong way.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 15, 2023

I was punctilious about all court regulations, but I sometimes used unorthodox tactics with witnesses.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela