Vocabulary
meticulous
adjective·/muh-TIK-yuh-luhs/
Extremely careful about details. A meticulous person checks everything and gets the small things right.
Meticulous is the word for someone whose attention to detail is a real strength, the person who catches the typo, the off-by-one, the missing line in the contract. It is almost always a compliment in professional contexts, especially for roles where mistakes are costly. The only caution: taken too far it can tip into perfectionism, so context tells you whether it is praise or a gentle warning.
5 ways to use “meticulous” in a sentence
- “He is meticulous about his notes, which is why he never misses a follow-up.”
- “She did a meticulous review and found three errors everyone else missed.”
- “Their meticulous planning is the reason the launch went so smoothly.”
- “I am meticulous with money but chaotic with my calendar, honestly.”
- “It takes a meticulous eye to spot the difference between these two drafts.”
Now say "meticulous" out loud, in your own sentence.
The fastest way to actually own a word is to use it when you speak, not just read it. Practice in TalkStride and get scored on how clearly it comes out.
Common mistakes
- Confusing it with "ridiculous"; they rhyme but share no meaning.
- Using it for big-picture care. Meticulous is specifically about small details.
- Assuming it is always positive. "Meticulous to a fault" hints at perfectionism.
Similar words, and how they differ
thorough
Thorough means complete, leaving nothing out. Meticulous means careful about the fine details specifically.
careful
Careful is general caution. Meticulous is careful taken to a high, detail-obsessed level.
precise
Precise is about exactness in the result. Meticulous is about the painstaking care in the process.