English Reference
Adjective

punctual

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US /ˈpəŋktʃuəɫ/ UK /pˈʌŋktʃuːəl/ punc·tu·al Linguistics Mathematics

adj.arriving or happening exactly on time. You use this to describe someone who is not late for meetings or appointments.

adj.arriving or occurring exactly at the scheduled or expected time. Often used to describe a person's reliability in time management.


SIMPLE

He is very punctual and always arrives before the meeting starts.

CONTEXTUAL

The train is usually punctual, so we should not worry about being late for our flight.

COMPLEX

Maintaining a punctual schedule is essential for the success of the project, as every team member must synchronize their efforts to meet the final deadline.


Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūnctuālis (“relating to a point”), from Late Latin pūnctus (“point”) + -ālis (adjective suffix).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin la-lat pūnctus
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Occasional
Updated