Meticulous Meaning
/mɪˈtɪkjɪlɪs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjCharacterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details.
adjTimid, fearful, overly cautious.
Sentence Examples
It is not necessary to be meticulous.
He's not a very meticulous guy.
Tom is so meticulous about the food he eats.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ craftsman checked every measurement twice to avoid errors.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist's ____ attention to detail was evident in every single brushstroke of her stunning and realistic landscape painting.
Word Origin & History
Learned borrowing from Latin meticulōsus (“full of fear, timid, fearful, terrible, frightful”), from metus (“fear”) and -culōsus, extracted from perīculōsus (“perilous”). Sense of “characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details” is a semantic loan from French méticuleux.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The meticulous care with which the operation in Sicily was planned has paid dividends. Our casualties in men, in ships and materiel have been low—in fact, far below our estimate."
— 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Roosevelt's Fireside Chat, 28 July 1943:
"Currently, bodyshells for units 810024/025 are on the weld line. […] In the paint shop are bodyshells for 810022/023, which are undergoing a meticulous process to ensure a high-quality finish."
— 2024 December 27, Pip Dunn, “Network News: Hitachi pushes on with '810' assembly and testing”, in RAIL, number 1025, page 20:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ craftsman checked every measurement twice to avoid errors.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist's ____ attention to detail was evident in every single brushstroke of her stunning and realistic landscape painting.