How do you pronounce meticulous?

The recorded pronunciation is /mɪˈtɪkjɪlɪs/.

meticulous

/mɪˈtɪkjɪlɪs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English

Syllables: metic-u-lous
IPA: /mɪˈtɪkjɪlɪs/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details.

adj

Timid, fearful, overly cautious.

Archaic

Example Sentences

"meticulous search"
"meticulous investigation"
"meticulous knowledge"
"meticulous report"
"The meticulous care with which the operation in Sicily was planned has paid dividends. Our casualties in men, in ships and materiel have been low—in fact, far below our estimate."
"Currently, bodyshells for units 810024/025 are on the weld line. […] In the paint shop are bodyshells for 810022/023, which are undergoing a meticulous process to ensure a high-quality finish."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin meticulōsus (“full of fear, timid, fearful, terrible, frightful”), from metus (“fear”) and -culōsus, extracted from perīculōsus (“perilous”). Sense of “characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details” is a semantic loan from French méticuleux.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /mɪˈtɪkjɪlɪs/

Usage

Archaic

Inflected Forms

more meticulous (comparative) most meticulous (superlative)

Derived Forms

meticulosity meticulously meticulousness overmeticulous unmeticulous

Phrases

all-embracing all-encompassing all-inclusive

Frequently Paired Words

all-embracing all-encompassing all-inclusive bureaucratic cautious industrious

Synonyms

painstaking fastidious alert attentive careful cautelous cautious canny chary circumspect conservative deliberate

Antonyms

sloppy careless slapdash aggressive carefree cursory derelict heedless irregardless irrespective lash lax

Rhymes With

ridiculous funiculus calyculus