precise

Formsprecises, precising, precised

1. 1
   adjective

   Exact and accurate; correct down to the smallest detail.

   The surgeon made a precise incision just below the rib.

   Engineers rely on precise measurements when building a suspension bridge.

   Similarexact, accurate, meticulous, careful, correct

   Oppositeimprecise, inexact

   Note

   The everyday sense, which runs exactness and truth together. The word was cut to shape: Latin praecisus, from prae- "in front" and caedere "cut", the root behind incise, and précis is its doublet. Bertrand Russell, in The Analysis of Mind (1921), pulls the two ideas apart. "I met Jones" is more precise than "I met a man", but it is accurate only if true. Scientists keep that split in the strict, data-point sense.

2. 2
   adjective

   Giving consistent results that cluster closely together, whether or not those results land near the true value.

   The instrument proved precise, returning nearly identical readings across twenty trials.

   A precise thermometer may still be miscalibrated, giving consistent but incorrect temperatures.

   Similarconsistent, repeatable, reproducible, reliable

   Oppositeimprecise, inconsistent, varying

   Note

   A laboratory word with a narrower job than the everyday one. Precision describes scatter: repeated readings that agree closely show low random error. Accuracy describes how near those readings sit to the true value. So "precise but not accurate" is a coherent verdict on a miscalibrated instrument. The opposites here are imprecise, inconsistent and varying. Wrong is not one of them, because being wrong is a failure of accuracy.

3. 3
   adjective

   Overly strict in adhering to rules; prim or punctilious in manner.

   The old clerk was precise to a fault, correcting every minor breach of etiquette.

   His precise insistence on proper form irritated the more easygoing members.

   Similarpunctilious, fastidious, prim, fussy, pedantic

   Oppositeeasygoing, lax, casual, relaxed

4. 4
   verbnonstandardtransitive

   To make something exact by specifying it clearly and in full.

   The regulation must precise the conditions under which aid may be granted.

   The drafters precise each obligation to remove any ambiguity.

   Similarspecify, define, clarify, detail, stipulate

   Note

   A verb of European Union drafting rather than general English. The 2011 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council speaks of "a need to precise the objectives of the CFP." Because it is nonstandard, specify or clarify is the safer choice outside that setting. It inflects regularly (precises, precising, precised) and always takes an object: one precises something.

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