punctilio

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.

They combined, then as now, a wild bureaucratic adherence to punctilio and procedure with entanglements of cohort and clan that could shortcut the procedure in a moment.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 8, 2017

There lingers, even in our mercantile age, an admiration for the aristocratic ethos, the punctilio, of the duel.

From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2015

Protocol, punctilio, politesse suddenly drop, leaving Tennyson’s “Nature, red in tooth and claw.”

From BusinessWeek • Sep. 29, 2011

The Korean armistice talks, which have dragged on through 275 sessions, have provided some classic examples of the use of punctilio to shatter a rival's composure.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Very honorable indeed; but at this moment we must waive a punctilio."

From The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) by Lever, Charles James