exacting

English

Etymology

exact +‎ -ing

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪɡˈzæktɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æktɪŋ
• Hyphenation: ex‧act‧ing

Adjective

exacting (comparative more exacting, superlative most exacting)

1. Making great demands; difficult to satisfy.
   • 1874, Edward Payson Roe, chapter 4, in Opening a Chestnut Burr:

     His exacting taste required no small degree of outward perfection.

   • 1895, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 7, in The Stark Munro Letters:

     [H]e burst into apologies which would have satisfied a more exacting man than I am.

2. (of an action, task, etc) Requiring precise accuracy, great care, effort, or attention.
   • December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian‎:

     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.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 3, in The Man:

     Wolf's work, which, though not very exacting, had to be done single-handed, kept him to his post.

3. (of a person or organization) Characterized by exaction.
   • 1850, T. S. Arthur, chapter 2, in All's For the Best:

     "He is a hard, exacting, money-loving man," was my remark.

Synonyms

• (difficult to satisfy): demanding
• (requiring precise accuracy, effort, care, or attention): demanding, niggly, pernickety
• (characterized by exaction): acquisitive, extortionate, grasping, money-grubbing, rapacious

Translations

Verb

exacting

1. present participle and gerund of exact

Derived terms

• exactingly
• exactingness

See also

• Thesaurus:fastidious
• Thesaurus:meticulous