exacting

1 hard to please he was shocked when his normally exacting supervisor complimented him on a job well done Synonyms choosy (or choosey), dainty, delicate, demanding, finicky, fastidious, finical, finicking, fussbudgety, fussy, nice, old-maidish, particular, pernickety [chiefly British], persnickety, pickyRelated Words hyperfastidious, overdemanding, ultrafastidious; discerning, discriminating, selective; insightful, knowledgeable; captious, carping, caviling (or cavilling), critical, faultfinding, hypercritical, overcritical; careful, meticulous, painstaking, punctilious, scrupulous; queasy (also queazy), squeamish; peevish, petulant, prickly, touchy; niminy-piminy, prim, prissyNear Antonyms affable, breezy, carefree, devil-may-care, happy-go-lucky, lackadaisical, laid-back, low-pressure, relaxed; flexible, lax, loose; lenient, permissive; uncritical; indiscriminating, undiscriminatingAntonyms undemanding, unfastidious, unfussy

2 not allowing for any exceptions or loosening of standards the prep school's exacting standards for admission Synonyms brassbound, cast-iron, rigid, hard-line, inflexible, rigorous, strict, stringent, uncompromisingRelated Words close, conscientious, exact, fussy, meticulous, painstaking, punctilious, scrupulous, undeviating; adamant, adamantine, determined, dogged, firm, relentless, resolved, single-minded, steadfast, stubborn, tenacious, unbending, unflinching; immovable, implacable, unappeasable, unrelenting, unsparing, unyielding; austere, demanding, flinty, grim, hard, hardened, hard-hearted, harsh, ironbound, severe, stern, toughNear Antonyms acquiescent, compliant, compromising, pliable, pliant, relenting, yielding; easy, easygoing, gentle, indulgent, kindly, lenient, merciful, mild, pampering, soft, spoiling, tolerant; neglectful, negligent, remiss, slipshod, sloppy, slovenly, unfussyAntonyms flexible, lax, loose, relaxed, slack

3 requiring considerable physical or mental effort the new recruits had to adjust themselves to the exacting discipline of military life Synonyms arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, hard, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rough, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough, uphillRelated Words abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, elusive, hairy, insoluble, intricate, involved, knotty, opaque, problematic (also problematical), recondite, serious, spiny, stubborn, thorny, ticklish, tricky; bruising, burdensome, exhausting, labored, onerous, oppressive, stressful, taxing, tight, trying; annoying, bothersome, distressing, irksome, troublesome, vexatious; grievous, grim, strict, stringent; brutal, cruel, inhuman, painfulNear Antonyms achievable, clear, doable, elementary, manageable, uncomplicated; comforting, gentle, painless, relaxed, smooth, soothing; accessible, friendly, idiotproof, user-friendlyAntonyms cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding

4 requiring much time, effort, or careful attention writing will always be an exacting task Synonyms arduous, burdensome, challenging, demanding, grueling (or gruelling), killing, laborious, onerous, persnickety, taxing, toilsomeRelated Words difficult, formidable, hard, herculean, rough, rugged, stiff, strenuous, testing, tough; oppressive, trying; rigid, rigorous, severe, stern, strict, stringentNear Antonyms easy, effortless, facile, simple, smoothAntonyms light, nondemanding, unchallenging, undemanding