punc·til·i·ous

(pŭngk-tĭl′ē-əs)

adj.

1. Strictly attentive to minute details of form in action or conduct. See Synonyms at meticulous.

2. Precise; scrupulous.

punc·til′i·ous·ly adv.

punc·til′i·ous·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

punctiliousness - strict attention to minute details

meticulosity, meticulousness, scrupulousness

painstakingness, conscientiousness - the trait of being painstaking and careful

punctiliousness

noun

1. Attentiveness to detail:

care, carefulness, fastidiousness, meticulousness, pain (used in plural), painstaking, scrupulousness, thoroughness.

2. Strict observance of social conventions:

ceremoniousness, ceremony, formality, protocol.

Translations

punctiliousness

n → peinliche Genauigkeit or Korrektheit

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

punctiliousness

[pʌŋkˈtɪlɪəsnɪs] n → scrupolosità, meticolosità

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Arrayed in a new calico dress, with clean, white apron, and high, well-starched turban, her black polished face glowing with satisfaction, she lingered, with needless punctiliousness, around the arrangements of the table, merely as an excuse for talking a little to her mistress.

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"Between you and me," she murmured, "such punctiliousness is scarcely necessary--is it?"

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This much at least I cannot help telling you, that you may observe the good breeding and punctiliousness of my worthy husband.

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Pyotr Petrovitch belonged to that class of persons, on the surface very polite in society, who make a great point of punctiliousness, but who, directly they are crossed in anything, are completely disconcerted, and become more like sacks of flour than elegant and lively men of society.

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In this light, Bagnold criticizes hospital punctiliousness as a ridiculous attempt at domesticating the catastrophe, and the Sister's obsession with keeping up appearances for wealthy visitors and sheltering them from the bodily horror of the wards:

Trauma, Ethics, and the Body at War in Brittain, Borden and Bagnold

It is not because of punctiliousness that the administrative regulations fix how much can be spent by each local office for cleaning the premises, for furniture repairs, and for lighting and heating.

PROTECTED LYING: HOW THE LEGAL DOCTRINE OF "ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY" HAS CREATED A "LEMONS PROBLEM" IN AMERICAN CRIMINAL COURTS

Ajimobi's punctiliousness has been made manifest on several fronts especially when it comes to the way his government, its officials and the people of his state are perceived by members of the public, both local and national.

Sixty Eight Garlands for Ajimobi

Ethnic stereotypes should of course be avoided -- but he does seem very German as he meticulously explains how to get to the building ("Take the lift to the fourth floor, which is the top floor," he instructs with perhaps a surfeit of punctiliousness).

New conductor of our national orchestra looks to the future

While one might imagine some soon-to-be husband preoccupied with his own wedding apparel or concerned about punctiliousness, in fact, Wemmick takes time to fit his father with gloves, making that process the comic centerpiece of the wedding scene.

"Love beyond logic": On cannons, castles, and healing tomfoolery in Dickens's great expectations and Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov

Organized and presented by Gallerie CMG, the show literally brings together an exhilarating harvest of still lifes from an artist whose extremely detailed works demand from the artist such patience and punctiliousness as to negate any tendencies to hasten the pace of their creation.

Tessie Duldulao: Living a still life

Typical of Truffaut's early attitude towards Fellini is his 1955 Venice report on Il bidone: "I find all Fellini's films irritating: The White Sheik because it is petty, A Matrimonial Agency because of its feigned sensitivity, I vitelloni because of its limitations, La strada because of its laborious and literary punctiliousness." Il bidone is no better for Truffaut except for the fact that Hollywood star Broderick Crawford occupies its visual foreground.

Fellini and the auteurists