Words / P / General

punctilious

adjective/pʌŋkˈtɪlɪəs/

C2CEFR level
82/100Rarity: very rare
FormalRegister

Showing great, sometimes excessive, attention to correct behaviour and fine points of etiquette.

He was punctilious in his manners, standing whenever a guest entered the room.

Similar: meticulous, fastidious, exacting

Origin: From Italian puntiglio 'fine point', from Latin punctum 'point'.

Topic: propriety in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: propriety