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Friday September 18, 2009

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punctilious [puhnk-TIL-ee-uhs]

adjective

1. Careful attention to detail in forms of behavior and etiquette.
2. Marked by precise accordance with details.

• Even Justice Souter's resignation letter was punctilious and reserved. In her own resignation letter in 2005, Ms. O'Connor said she left with "with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure."
  Adam Liptak, "To Replace Souter, Obama May Pick a Bolder Liberal", Pittsburgh Post – Gazette, May 10, 2009
• Frank is properly punctilious about a fundamental principle of American governance - legislative control of public funds.
  George Will, RIGHT VIEW:; "Our turn at coal and fish", Sunday Gazette – Mail, Sep 28, 2008
• When I mention his weakness I have allusion to a bizarre old-womanish superstition which beset him. He was great in dreams, portents, et id genus omne of rigmarole. He was excessively punctilious, too, upon small points of honor, and, after his own fashion, was a man of his word, beyond doubt.
  Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) An American writer, poet, editor and literary critic. Three Sundays in a Week (1850)

Origin of the Word

Punctilious, approximately 1634, derived from probably from Italian puntiglioso, from puntiglio "fine point," from Latin punctum "prick".