exacting

[ ig-zak-ting ]

adjective

1. rigid or severe in demands or requirements:

   an exacting teacher.

2. requiring close application or attention:

   an exacting task.

3. given to or characterized by exaction; extortionate.

exacting

/ ɪɡˈzæktɪŋ /

adjective

1. making rigorous or excessive demands

   an exacting job

Derived Forms

• exˈactingness, noun
• exˈactingly, adverb

Other Words From

• ex·acting·ly adverb
• ex·acting·ness noun
• nonex·acting adjective
• nonex·acting·ly adverb
• nonex·acting·ness noun
• over·ex·acting adjective
• super·ex·acting adjective
• unex·acting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of exacting¹

First recorded in 1575–85; exact + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Both the IRA and the British military are portrayed here with an exacting lack of sentimentality.

From Washington Post

The pair, who are exhibiting together in Fred Schnider Gallery’s “Material Reality,” make elaborate, exacting assemblages.

From Washington Post

She offers to teach Teichner the exacting steps involved in the time-consuming preparation for administering the meds.

From Washington Post

Viewed through the exacting lens of an engineer, Beckwith was struck by agriculture’s inefficiencies.

From Singularity Hub 

He was known to be a tough and exacting boss who regularly and relentlessly drilled his analysts to prepare them for client meetings.

From Washington Post

Qualification is exacting, and a majority of the teams that do qualify are from the West.

From The Daily Beast

Brazier was feared for her ferocious tempers and respected for her exacting standards.

From The Daily Beast

Munro is a great writer; a wise writer; a free and brave, exacting, transformative, generous, and profoundly discreet writer.

From The Daily Beast

But exacting concessions from the mediator is not the point.

From The Daily Beast

But legal justice, no less moral or exacting, is something else.

From The Daily Beast

He knew his control was not equal to the task; he would betray himself; the rôle was too exacting.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Carr, who had his eyes on the exacting baby, shook his head, and intimated that he was really unable to understand her.

From Project Gutenberg

Marriage, and later the birth of his son had softened Armand Aubigny's imperious and exacting nature greatly.

From Project Gutenberg

At the end of the concerto the applause was generous enough to satisfy the most exacting virtuoso.

From Project Gutenberg

As they get accustomed to her, they want to rule her, and the more one gives them the more exacting they become.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• harsh
• imperious
• onerous
• painstaking
• precise
• rigid
• rigorous
• strict
• stringent