accurate
- 01 B1 Intermediate
correct in every detail and without any mistakes.
conforming exactly to truth or to a standard; free from error or defect.
Simple“The scientist made sure her measurements were accurate before publishing the results.”
In context“The historical drama was praised for its accurate portrayal of life in the nineteenth century, from the costumes to the social etiquette.”
UsageOften used with 'highly' or 'remarkably' to show a high degree of precision.
PitfallThe news report was very precision. The news report was very accurate.Use the adjective 'accurate' to describe a thing; 'precision' is a noun.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
able to hit a target or reach a destination exactly where you intended.
capable of hitting a target or following a course with precision.
Simple“The player's accurate pass reached his teammate right in front of the goal.”
In context“Modern GPS systems provide accurate navigation even in remote areas where traditional maps might fail.”
UsageCan describe both the person aiming and the tool or weapon being used.
Synonymswell aimedon targetAntonymswideoff target
Usage accurate description · accurate estimate · accurate information
“The move marks a shift away from the traditional use of animals as models for human disease, towards what researchers believe will be more accurate and reliable tests based directly on human tissues.”
“Open source WeatherNext model can make accurate predictions with lower-resolution weather data.”
First attested in the 1610's with the now obsolete sense "done with care", and from the 1650's with the sense "precise, exact". Borrowed from Latin accūrātus (“done with care”), perfect passive participle of accūrō (“take care of”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + cūrō (“take care”), from cūra (“care”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). Compare English cure.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.