Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fine point of etiquette.
- n. Precise observance of formalities.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A small point.
- n. A nice point, especially in conduct, ceremony, or proceeding; also, particularity or exactness in the observance of forms.
Wiktionary
- n. A fine point in exactness of conduct, ceremony or procedure. Strictness in observance of formalities.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A nice point of exactness in conduct, ceremony, or proceeding; particularity or exactness in forms.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a fine point of etiquette or petty formality
- n. strict observance of formalities
Etymologies
- Italian puntiglio, or Spanish puntillo, diminutive from Latin punctum point. (Wiktionary)
- Obsolete Italian punctiglio, from Spanish puntillo, diminutive of punto, point, from Latin pūnctum, from neuter past participle of pungere, to prick; see peuk- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“A short run or attempt at running after the idea, ended in pain to his head near the spot where the haunting word punctilio caught at any excuse for clamouring.”
“In connection with this ritualistic form of punctilio, which is noticed in the religious practices of other peoples and lands, the established formal invocation of and prayer to the divinity may be mentioned.”
“I was also influenced by religious motives that suggested to me the necessity of living to atone, by my sufferings and sorrow, for the guilt I had incurred in complying with a savage punctilio, which is, I fear, displeasing in the sight of Heaven.”
“It has some slow bits, and some prolonged bouts of humor Tom's lovesickness, his punctilio about make-believe that have to have felt at least a little labored even back in 1876, when it often took weeks or even months for a punchline to arrive.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Chabon On The N-Word In 'Huckleberry Finn'
“All that those words imply, including a disregard for military tradition and punctilio, the objective of dismantling an enemy and not merely defeating him, and downright ruthlessness, can be found in the battles of the Great Warpath.”
“In jail after an unwise decision, he contemplates "the Miocene logic and cruel outcomes afflicting all those with pluck but no punctilio.”
“If we think for a moment about why Cardozo goes to such lengths to define a standard of behavior grounded in "a punctilio of an honor the most sensitive," we realize that a market economy (or we might add, a viable democracy) depends critically on fiduciaries making decisions - millions everyday - for countless of beneficiaries.”
The Huffington Post: Nancy F. Koehn: Leaders and Fiduciaries
“Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive, is then the standard of behavior.”
The Huffington Post: Nancy F. Koehn: Leaders and Fiduciaries
“Wikipedia on the other hand has a stab at it exclusively for rhotics, judging by the punctilio of the ɨ: juːˈtɒksɨtər.”
“With considerable punctilio, he then called for the garrison doctor, and had him certify officially that Jamie was fit enough to be flogged.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘punctilio’.
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• Wordies talk about themselves
Sometimes users are also persons.
llogos, peter stickles, old age, 39, insomnia, frown of approval, chuck norris, ovular, gay, fencing, rabbits, seven empty cups ... and 137 more...
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Any words List Its open!!
Im savin it for later
awesepoto
cooliest
sup
a-w-e-s-o-m-e
cool beans dude
hit me man
Rock on
Get a life dude
book timeweird, mongolian, 7457, saitin, toejam, aver, misanthrope, blandishment, cadge, fuschia, fuchsia, discotheque and 367 more...
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phrontistery - p
from phrontistery.info
pabouche, pabulous, pabulum, pacable, pace, pachydermia, pachyglossal, pachymeter, pachynsis, paciferous, pacificate, pactolian and 1766 more...
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250 Spelling Words
A selected sampling of words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
orecchiette, rhabdomancy, guayabera, orthoepy, opisthenar, maguey, proem, ciabatta, cioppino, banns, concinnity, asthenia and 237 more...
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From reading
Collected from reading
venerate, reprobate, reticent, adoration, ethereal, ephemeral, equivocal, contumacious, heinous, solicitous, agnostic, aberration and 335 more...
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Tristram Shandy
souse, meet, sententious, propound, boot, casuistry, avoirdupois, akimbo, disport, lenity, succussation, sweetbread and 160 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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To a point
to the point
dot, betoken, cusp, nib, neb, nadir, bespeak, eutectic, punctilio, fulcrum, stretch a point, make a point and 69 more...
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Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young ...
These words are from Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young Lady, 1747-48
adumbrate, virago, varlet, rencounter, akimbo, palliate, amanuensis, amok, equipage, cully, se'ennight, resentments and 560 more...
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Learned
ambergris, andiron, aphelion, austral, bellicose, boreal, bravura, chaff, chicanery, creditable, credulous, decamp and 223 more...
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New words
Words that are new to me.
autostrada, gimlet, clyster, gravida, skelped, nacreous, susurrus, intransigent, puissant, turbid, plangent, fungible and 99 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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tez's Words
tain, curlicue, eidolon, exoteric, puissant, ragamuffin, insouciant, yarrow, taciturn, mundane, vomitorium, tenebre and 140 more...
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Willieb's Words
pusillanimous, exigible, extraneous, contemptible, banal, generic, secular, canard, acerbic, erudite, versus, atheist and 192 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for punctilio.
vanishedone But why does it do that? http://wordie.org/people/comments/chained_bear?o=10865, for example, currently works for me, so why are certain values of o breaking? Oct 21, 2008
jennarenn Crud. Thanks c_b. I feel like my slip is showing. Oct 21, 2008
chained_bear psst... jennarenn... I think you meant to link to this page. Your link gives an app. error. Oct 21, 2008
jennarenn Oh, and then you click the arrow to see the previous hundred comments. Here is my first comment. I like seeing what I was talking about back then. :) Oct 21, 2008
jennarenn Somebody called for the Wordie Historian? Here is c_b's first comment. Clearly, I don't want to do work. :P In the future, just change the numbers in the URL to match the person's comment count. Takes 2 seconds. :) Oh, and c_b don't delete it! It's part of wordieternity! Oct 21, 2008
chained_bear No, but it might be near the first.
I should delete it. Oct 11, 2008
Prolagus Is this chained_bear's first comment? Oct 11, 2008
evin290 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Punctilio
Daily Punctilio, anyone? Aug 31, 2007
chained_bear Funny... I told my S.O. about this site and the first thing he said was, "You should add punctilio."
And *I* said, "Guess you need to log on and start a list." Feb 1, 2007