exacting en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ɪɡˈzæktɪŋ/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From exact + -ing.
Meanings
-
Making great demands; difficult to satisfy.
[H]e burst into apologies which would have satisfied a more exacting man than I am.
1895, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 7, in The Stark Munro Letters:His exacting taste required no small degree of outward perfection.
1874, Edward Payson Roe, chapter 4, in Opening a Chestnut Burr:[Canadian Prime Minister] Mr. [Mark] Carney was the exacting governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, and the levelheaded governor of the Bank of England during Brexit.
2025 April 2, Sara Miller Llana, “Who is Mark Carney? Maybe just who Canada wants to face off against Trump.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
-
Of an action, task, etc., requiring precise accuracy, great care, effort, or attention.
Even if a GDF receives its first deposit in the 2040s, the waste has to be delivered and put away with such exacting caution that it can be filled and closed only by the middle of the 22nd century.
December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:Every photographer of experience has his own theories and methods of working, but for the last 14 years I have used a Leica exclusively, and have found it best adapted to the somewhat exacting demands of railway photography, which is by no means an easy branch of the art.
1952 February, H. C. Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in Railway Magazine, page 78:Wolf's work, which, though not very exacting, had to be done single-handed, kept him to his post.
1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 3, in The Man:
-
Of a person or organization, characterized by exaction.
"He is a hard, exacting, money-loving man," was my remark.
1850, T. S. Arthur, chapter 2, in All's For the Best:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more exacting | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most exacting | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Synonyms
acquisitive (characterized by exaction) · extortionate (characterized by exaction) · grasping (characterized by exaction) · demanding (requiring precise accuracy, effort, care, or attention) · pernickety (requiring precise accuracy, effort, care, or attention) · demanding (difficult to satisfy) · money-grubbing (characterized by exaction) · niggly (requiring precise accuracy, effort, care, or attention) · rapacious (characterized by exaction)
Translations (19)
de kleinlich (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · fi vaatelias (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · eo postulema (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · ru тре́бовательный (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · fi vaativa (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · nl veeleisend (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · be патрабавальны (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · cs náročný (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · fr exigeant (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · sv krävande (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · sv fordrande (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · bg придирчив (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · de anspruchsvoll (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · fi tiukka (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · bg взискателен (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · de wählerisch (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · es exigente (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · pt exigente (making great demands; difficult to satisfy) · ca exigent (making great demands; difficult to satisfy)