exactitude

IPA/ɪɡˈzæktɪtjuːd/
KK[ɪɡzˈæktətˌud]IPA/ɪɡˈzæktɪtuːd/

exactitude — noun

1. extreme accuracy and careful attention that keeps even small details right.

1.nounC2
Definition

extreme accuracy and careful attention that keeps even small details right.

Example

Renata checked every footnote in the thesis for exactitude before printing.

check for exactitude in written detail

The museum guide described the battle dates with exactitude during the tour.

with exactitude after a reporting verb

Common collocations
  • mathematical exactitude
  • historical exactitude
  • exactitude of detail
  • speak with exactitude
  • demand exactitude
Synonyms
  • exactness

    very close in meaning, but plainer and less literary in style

  • precision

    often sounds more technical and is common in measurement or controlled movement

  • accuracy

    the everyday word for being correct, without the same formal tone

Antonyms
  • inaccuracy

    lack of correctness in facts, figures, or details

  • vagueness

    lack of clear or exact detail

Grammar Patterns

with exactitude

exactitude of

exactitude in

Usage Note

Usually appears in formal writing about records, measurements, descriptions, or historical detail. It sounds more elevated than everyday words such as accuracy and is common in phrases like 'with exactitude' and 'the exactitude of the account'.

Common Mistakes

The clerk wrote an exactitude list of names.
The clerk wrote an exact list of names.
use 'exact' before a noun; 'exactitude' names the quality.
Gabriel measured the cloth exactitude.
Gabriel measured the cloth with exactitude.
this noun usually appears after 'with' when it describes how something was done.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Exactitude is a formal, sometimes literary word for accuracy carried through every detail. Accuracy is the everyday choice when you simply mean that an answer, fact, or measurement is correct. Precision often sounds more technical and suggests fine control or very small margins, especially in science, timing, or skilled movement. Exactness is very close to exactitude, but it usually feels plainer and less elevated in style. You might talk about the exactitude of a translation or a historical record, an accurate answer on a test, or a precise cut made by a machine.

exactitude ↗accuracy ↗precision ↗exactness ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • degree of exactitude
  • exactitude of detail
  • exactitude in measurement

Phrases

  • check for exactitude
  • work with exactitude

Prepositions

  • with exactitude

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Exactitude came into English through French from the same Latin root that also gave English exact. Across those languages, the idea developed toward strict correctness and completeness, which is why exactitude now refers to careful accuracy in every detail.

First known use

1734

1734, in the meaning defined above