21 March 2014

meticulous

[muh-tik-yuh-luhs]

adjective

1. taking or showing extreme care about minute details; precise; thorough: a meticulous craftsman; meticulous personal appearance.
2. finicky; fussy: meticulous adherence to technicalities.

Origin:
1525–35; < Latin metīculōsus full of fear, fearful, equivalent to metī- for metū- (stem of metus fear) + -culōsus, extracted from perīculōsus perilous

Related forms
me·tic·u·lous·ly, adverb
me·tic·u·lous·ness, me·tic·u·los·i·ty [muh-tik-yuh-los-i-tee] Show IPA , noun
un·me·tic·u·lous, adjective
un·me·tic·u·lous·ly, adverb
un·me·tic·u·lous·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. exact, strict, scrupulous. See painstaking.

Antonyms
1, 2. careless.

Anagram

emu oculist
I muscle out

Today’s aphorism

When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

– John F. Kennedy

On this day

21 March – International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

21 March – National Harmony Day in which Australia celebrates its cultural diversity.

21 March – World Poetry Day. Declared by UNESCO in 1999 to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry.

21 March 1960 – Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa, when Afrikaner police opened fire on unarmed protestors in front of the police station, killing 69 people and wounding 180. In South Africa, every 21 March is a public holiday to celebrate human rights and commemorate the Sharpeville massacre.

21 March 1963 – President John F. Kennedy orders the closure of federal penitentiary, Alcatraz (The Rock).