precisely

adverb

pre·​cise·​ly pri-ˈsīs-lē 

1

: in a precise manner : exactly

weighing ingredients precisely

This incremental adjustment is continued until the bubble is precisely centered.

—Barry F. Kavanagh

—often used to emphasize the precision of something (such as a measurement, time, description, etc.)

The sample weighed precisely 6 ounces.

We arrived at precisely two o'clock.

She always knows precisely what to do.

He was popular precisely because he was so kind.

She always woke at eight precisely.

—P. G. Wodehouse

It is precisely to counter this sort of "negative advertising" that the garbage industry has lately been working hard to change its image.

—Elizabeth Royte

2

: quite so

—used to confirm emphatically that what has been said or suggested is exactly correct

"So you think the system is outdated?" "Precisely."

Synonyms of precisely

• just
• right
• exactly

Examples of precisely in a Sentence

I feel precisely the same way as you do.

measured the length of the board precisely

Recent Examples on the Web

What a card sees perfectly is where a person spent money, which is precisely what the Michigan interviews spent two months establishing. — John Drake, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026

Keegan had reestablished City not just as a good team, but a team who played entertaining football with maverick players, precisely what the fans had wanted for so long. — James Pearce, New York Times, 22 July 2026

Lowering the barrier to physical AI so that one person can do the work of eight engineers is precisely the kind of change both men would say demands as much attention to who benefits as to what gets built. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 21 July 2026

Each person’s light-dark exposure also differs depending on habits and location, which makes timing the biological clock difficult to measure precisely. — Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 21 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for precisely

• concisely
• nicely