adjective
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faithfully representing or describing the truth
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showing a negligible or permissible deviation from a standard
an accurate ruler
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without error; precise; meticulous
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maths
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(to n significant digits) representing the first n digits of the given number starting with the first nonzero digit, but approximating to the nearest digit in the final position
since π = 3.14159…, the approximation 3.1416 is accurate to 5 significant digits.
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(to n decimal places) giving the first n digits after the decimal point without further approximation
π = 3.1415 is in this sense accurate to 4 decimal places
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Related Words
See correct.
Other Word Forms
- accurately adverb
- accurateness noun
- hyperaccurate adjective
- hyperaccurateness noun
- superaccurate adjective
- superaccurateness noun
- unaccurate adjective
- unaccurateness noun
Etymology
Origin of accurate
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin accūrātus “carefully prepared” (past participle of accūrāre ), equivalent to ac- ac- + cūr(a) “care” + -ātus -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to make sure the return is as accurate as possible before filing,” he said.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
They were officers dispatched by a concerned counselor who misinterpreted his factually accurate answer as a statement of intent.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
Programmes like the nationwide rural jobs guarantee, for instance, depend on an accurate sense of which areas are still "rural" - a category that may have shifted significantly over 15 years.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Norden Mark XV bombsight wasn’t accurate enough to target precisely an enemy’s industrial capacity to wage war.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
Alas, the memory of how the three Incorrigibles had behaved—or, to be accurate, failed to behave— at Lady Constance’s holiday ball was all too fresh in Penelope’s mind.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
