Definition of: precise

(pri·sīs′) adjective
1. Sharply or clearly determined; strictly accurate; exact.
2. No more and no less than.
3. Noting or confined to a certain thing; particular; identical.
4. Scrupulously observant of rule; punctilious. [<F précis <L praecisus, pp. of praecidere cut off short <prae- before + caedere cut]
—pre·cise′ly adverb
—pre·cise′ness noun Synonyms: accurate, careful, correct, definite, distinct, exact, explicit, faultless, flawless, minute, nice, particular, perfect, rigid, right, scrupulous, strict. Accurate, correct, definite, exact, precise, nice, all denote absolute conformity to some standard or truth. Accurate indicates conformity secured by scrupulous care. An accurate measurement or account can be verified and found true in all particulars. Careful carries less sharp certainty. Exact indicates that which is worked out to the utmost limit of requirement in every respect; precise refers to a like conformity or to an excessive exactness. Exact and precise are often interchangeable; but precise has often an invidious meaning, denoting excessive care of petty details; we speak of the martinet as insufferably precise, not insufferably exact. Correct applies to a required or enforced correspondence with a standard. This is especially seen in the use of the verb; the printer corrects the proof. That is correct which is free from fault or mistake. Nice denotes a very fine and discriminating exactness, and refers to intellectual distinctions oftener than to material measurements. Compare CORRECT, MINUTE². Antonyms: careless, doubtful, erroneous, false, faulty, inaccurate, inexact, loose, mistaken, misty, nebulous, untrue, vague, wrong.