painstaking

[peynz-tey-king, peyn-stey-] / ˈpeɪnzˌteɪ kɪŋ, ˈpeɪnˌsteɪ- /

ADJECTIVE

meticulous, thorough

Synonyms

STRONGEST

assiduous careful conscientious diligent earnest exacting scrupulous strenuous

STRONG

detail-oriented

WEAK

by the book by the numbers conscionable exact finicky fussbudget fussy hard-working heedful industrious particular persevering persnickety picky punctilious punctual sedulous stickler thoroughgoing

Antonyms

STRONGEST

careless lazy lethargic negligent thoughtless uncareful unconcerned unenthusiastic unscrupulous

WEAK

easy half-baked half-done unmindful unthorough

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.

The challenge for management, directors and investors is to have patience through this painstaking process while simultaneously kicking the tires and asking all the right questions during the building process.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

Webb did so by embodying professional excellence, constructing his cases with analytical rigor, painstaking research, and courage.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

Through painstaking renovations and a bit of reality TV magic.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026

His decades of painstaking research helped lead to a push in the 1990s for the Air Force to come clean on what it had been doing: testing spy balloons and recovering crash dummies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

I was there when Matthew described it to Caleb in painstaking detail earlier: a black box with a silver keypad, marked with a strip of blue tape with a model number written on it.

From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth

Vocabulary lists containing painstaking

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