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by the book
| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | exactly correct |
| Synonyms: | absolutely right, accurate, by the book, dead-center, definite, direct, exact, on the button, on the mark, on the mark, on the money, on the money, on the nose, pinpoint, precise, to the point, unerring, very accurate |
| Main Entry: | form |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | accepted procedure; ceremony |
| Synonyms: | behavior, by the book, by the numbers, canon, ceremonial, channels, conduct, convenance, convention, custom, decorum, done thing, etiquette, fashion, formality, habit, law, layout, manner, manners, method, mode, practice, precept, proceeding, process, propriety, protocol, regulation, rite, ritual, ropes, rule, setup, style, usage, way |
| Main Entry: | methodical/methodic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | organized, precise |
| Synonyms: | all together, analytical, businesslike, by the book, by the numbers, careful, cut-and-dried, deliberate, disciplined, efficient, exact, fixed, framed, in a groove, logical, methodized, meticulous, neat, ordered, orderly, painstaking, planned, regular, scrupulous, set-up, structured, systematic, tidy, together, well-regulated |
| Antonyms: | confused, disorderly, disorganized, imprecise, unmethodical/unmethodic |
| Main Entry: | painstaking |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | meticulous, thorough |
| Synonyms: | assiduous, by the book, by the numbers, careful, conscientious, conscionable, diligent, earnest, exact, exacting, finicky, fussbudget, fussy, hard-working, heedful, industrious, particular, persevering, persnickety*, picky, punctilious, punctual, scrupulous, sedulous, stickler, strenuous, thoroughgoing |
| Antonyms: | careless, easy, half-baked, half-done, thoughtless, unmindful, unthorough |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | proper |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | mannerly, decent |
| Synonyms: | becoming, befitting, by the book, by the numbers, comely, comme il faut, conforming, correct, de rigueur, decorous, demure, genteel, in line, kosher*, moral, nice, polite, precise, priggish, prim, prissy, prudish, punctilious, puritanical, refined, respectable, right, seemly, solid, square*, stone, straight*, strait-laced, stuffy |
| Antonyms: | crass, crude, misbehaving, objectionable |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | stern |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | serious, authoritarian |
| Synonyms: | ascetic, astringent, austere, bitter, bullheaded, by the book, cruel, disciplinary, dyed-in-the-wool, flinty, forbidding, frowning, grim, hang-tough, hard, hard-boiled, hard-core, hard-line, hard-nosed, hard-shell, hardheaded, harsh, implacable, inexorable, inflexible, mortified, mulish, relentless, rigid, rigorous, rough, severe, steely, stiff-necked, strict, stubborn, tough, unrelenting, unsparing, unyielding |
| Antonyms: | cheerful, funny, lenient, light, smiling, tolerant |
| Main Entry: | stringent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | rigid, tight |
| Synonyms: | acrimonious, binding, brick-wall, by the book, by the numbers, compelling, confining, convincing, dead set on, demanding, draconian, drawing, dyed-in-the-wool, exacting, forceful, hard, hard-nosed, harsh, inflexible, iron-fisted, ironclad, picky, poignant, powerful, rigorous, rough, set, severe, stiff, strict, tough, unpermissive, valid |
| Notes: | stringent often means simply 'strict, strictly regulated' and also 'tight or constricted' and emphasizes the narrowness of what is permitted, while strict emphasizes the sternness with which something is enforced |
| Antonyms: | flexible, inexact, tolerant |
| Main Entry: | according to Hoyle |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | according to the highest authority |
| Synonyms: | according to regulation, according to rule, as it should be, by the book, by the numbers, gospel, indisputable, proper |
| Main Entry: | by the numbers |
| Part of Speech: | adverb |
| Definition: | according to rule |
| Synonyms: | according to Hoyle, according to the highest authority, by the book, by the numbers, gospel, in a systematic manner, indisputable |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
