accurate

adjective

1 accurate information:

correct, precise, exact, right, errorless, error-free, without error, faultless, perfect, valid, specific, detailed, minute, explicit, clear-cut, word for word, unambiguous, meticulous, authoritative, reliable, canonical;

British, informal spot on, bang on;

North American, informal on the money.

▷antonyms inaccurate, inexact.

2 an accurate description:

factual, fact-based, literal, correct, faithful, exact, close, true, truthful, veracious, true to life, telling it like it is, as it really happened, lifelike, authentic, realistic, fair;

convincing, careful, word-perfect, strict, conscientious, punctilious, painstaking, thorough, scrupulous, rigorous;

informal on the mark, on the beam, on the nail, on the button;

British, informal spot on, bang on;

rare verisimilar, veristic, veridical.

▷antonyms inaccurate, loose.

3 an accurate shot:

well aimed, precise, on target, unerring, deadly, lethal, sure, true, on the mark, careful, meticulous, painstaking, precision;

British inch-perfect;

British, informal spot on, bang on.

▷antonyms inaccurate, wayward.

choose the right word

accurate, precise, exact

All these words apply to information or statements that are correct.

■ An accurate statement or representation has been put together with great care and corresponds to the facts (he gave a frighteningly accurate description of her life | an accurate and intelligible technical drawing). Both accurate and exact can be used to mean ‘providing a faithful representation’ (an accurate description | an exact copy).

■ Precise denotes minute attention to detail and implies that something can be measured or quantified. It draws a contrast with something that may be correct (or ‘accurate’) but is more vague or approximate (we have no precise figures for possible job losses | he gave her precise directions on the route). The common idiom to be precise is used to narrow the focus of a topic and give more detail (my parents live abroad—in North Borneo, to be precise).

■ Exact emphasizes that something has been definitely identified, with no margin for vagueness or error (we may never know the exact number of deaths), and an exact statement is one that is both precise and truthful. Unlike precise, exact is an adjective that cannot generally be modified by an adverb (one cannot say that something is ‘very exact’), which underlines the sense of absoluteness and pinpoint detail. Both precise and exact are used for emphasis (at that precise moment | you can show me the exact spot).

accurate Oxford Dictionary of English