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precisely

UK/pɹɪˈsaɪs.li/US/pɹɪˈsaɪs.li/
adverbB12 meaningsVery common — you will meet it every day · #2,195 of 15,258neutral

Precisely means with exact accuracy, down to the smallest detail. At precisely nine, precisely measured, precisely the same.

It is also a one-word reply meaning exactly that — Precisely. — used to agree emphatically with what somebody has just worked out. Not precisely is a way of correcting somebody gently. Note precise, the adjective; precision, the noun; and that precisely often marks the speaker's insistence rather than any real difference — precisely at nine and at nine mean the same thing to everybody except the speaker.

Definitions of precisely

  1. 1adverbpreciselyWith exact accuracy.B1

    “The whole thing takes precisely four minutes every time.”

    synonyms: exactly, accurately

  2. 2adverbagreeUsed to agree emphatically.B2

    “That is precisely what nobody wanted to hear.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

precisely is a degree of exactness.

Also accepted in games: exactly

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *preh₂-

  2. Latin

    praecīsus

  3. Middle French

    précis

  4. English

    precise

  5. English, today

    precisely

From precise + -ly. precise comes from Middle French précis, from Latin praecīsus, perfect passive participle of praecīdere, from prae- + caedere, cognate with hit. Related to incise. a doublet of précis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sharper Adjectives

Practise this word

precisely in the wild

  • Put another way, it states that the unit of quantum information, the qubit, cannot be exactly, precisely converted into classical information bits.

    No-teleportation theorem

  • The general rules for such schemes are not precisely known.

    Nonstandard finite difference scheme

  • What precisely is a criminal offence is defined by the criminal law of each relevant jurisdiction.

    Crime

  • Scholars have disagreed over precisely what legal precedent the Somerset case set.

    Somerset v Stewart

  • The term "mutiny" does not precisely describe events; soldiers remained in trenches and were willing to defend but refused orders to attack.

    1917 French Army mutinies

1 / 4

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the précis family

preciselyprecise

precisely — used about once every 277 pages · #2,195 · point at the bar for the others

  • precision