To be careful is to be cautious in one’s actions. To be scrupulous is to be especially attentive to and conscientious about every last detail. Scrupulous comes from the word scruple, which is defined as “a moral or ethical consideration or standard that acts as a restraining force or inhibits certain actions,” and indeed, the adjective also suggests being principled or having moral or ethical standards.

The adverb utterly likes to exaggerate and embellish, especially when it comes to painting a negative picture. You're likely to find utterly modifying low adjectives such as destroyed, ridiculous, and useless. Totally, on the other hand, prefers to spend its time as a verbal cheerleader: I totally agree; we totally understand!

When referring to slight differences or distinctions, the words subtlety and nuance are very close synonyms! A subtlety is a fine-grain distinction. The word nuance comes from the French word meaning “shade” or “hue,” and is used to discuss slight shades of difference in expression and meaning as well as in color and tone. There is a degree of elusiveness suggested by this term: just as it might be difficult to pinpoint the exact point at which a color in a rainbow changes from one to the next, so the nuances in a person’s tone might be difficult to demarcate or distinguish.