19 March 2014

punctilious

[puhngk-til-ee-uhs]

adjective

– extremely attentive to detail; strict or exact in the observance of the formalities, etiquette or amenities of conduct or actions.

Origin:
1625–35; punctili(o) + -ous

Related forms
punc·til·i·ous·ly, adverb
punc·til·i·ous·ness, noun
un·punc·til·i·ous, adjective
un·punc·til·i·ous·ly, adverb
un·punc·til·i·ous·ness, noun

Can be confused: punctual.

Synonyms
precise, demanding; careful, conscientious. See scrupulous.

Antonyms
careless.

Anagrams

tulip cousin
uncoil situp
oils up tunic

Today’s aphorism

I write to escape; to escape poverty.

– Edgar Rice Burroughs

On this day

19 March 1932 – Opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Captain Frank de Groot is arrested when he rides up on his horse and cuts the ribbon before the Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, can cut it. Captain de Groot was a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard who was politically opposed to the more left-wing Premier Lang. De Groot claimed he was protesting that the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Phillip Game, should have opened the Bridge.

19 March 1950 – death of Edgar Rice Burroughs, American science fiction author: Tarzan, Mars series (on which the 2012 movie ‘John Carter‘ was based).

19 March 2003 – The Second Gulf War commences as the U.S. led ‘Coalition of the Willing’ invade Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.