# meticulous

> English word · Adjective · IPA /mɪˈtɪkjɪlɪs/ · frequency rank #21,284

## Definitions
1. Characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details.
2. Timid, fearful, overly cautious.

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin meticulōsus (“full of fear, timid, fearful, terrible, frightful”), from metus (“fear”) and -culōsus, extracted from perīculōsus (“perilous”). Sense of “characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details” is a semantic loan from French méticuleux.

## Easily confused with
- **meticulously** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/meticulous-vs-meticulously)

## Common misspellings (14)
`emticulous`, `meitculous`, `metciulous`, `meticculous`, `meticluous`, `meticullous`, `meticulosu`, `meticulouss`, `meticuluos`, `meticuolus`, `metiuclous`, `metticulous`, `mmeticulous`, `mteiculous`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/meticulous