meticulous
Loading your saved state.
meticulous
Carried out extremely carefully, precisely, and with great attention to detail; painstaking.
Der Uhrmacher reparierte das alte Uhrwerk mit akribischer Präzision.
The watchmaker repaired the old clockwork with meticulous precision.
'Akribisch' (meticulous) is a word of elevated written language. In normal everyday conversation, it is used rather rarely and can sound formal or educated.
Die Wissenschaftlerin dokumentierte ihre Ergebnisse akribisch.
The scientist documented her results meticulously.
The word is very often used as an adverb to describe how an action is carried out. In that case, it remains unchanged after the verb.
Der Detektiv hat den Tatort akribisch untersucht.
The detective examined the crime scene meticulously.
As an adjective before a noun, 'akribisch' (meticulous) often describes intellectual or manual activities. Typical combinations are 'akribische Arbeit' (meticulous work), 'akribische Recherche' (meticulous research), or 'akribische Planung' (meticulous planning).
Für seine Doktorarbeit war eine akribische Recherche in alten Archiven notwendig.
For his doctoral thesis, meticulous research in old archives was necessary.
exact / precise
'genau' and 'akribisch' both describe careful and precise work. 'genau' is the more general word: a statement, measurement, or piece of work is correct and exact. 'akribisch' is stronger and means that someone pays attention to a great many details and works especially thoroughly. Learners may confuse the words because both have to do with precision. The difference is the intensity: 'genau' is enough for normal precision, while 'akribisch' fits when someone checks almost every small detail.
Nach dem Gespräch hat die Anwältin alle Unterlagen akribisch kontrolliert.
After the meeting, the lawyer checked all the documents meticulously.
Er hat die Uhrzeit für die Veranstaltung genau notiert.
He noted down the exact time for the event.