exacting

English

From exact +‎ -ing.

exacting (comparative more exacting, superlative most exacting)

Making great demands; difficult to satisfy.
- 1874, Edward Payson Roe, chapter 4, in Opening a Chestnut Burr:
  His exacting taste required no small degree of outward perfection.
- 1895, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 7, in The Stark Munro Letters:
  [H]e burst into apologies which would have satisfied a more exacting man than I am.
(of an action, task, etc) Requiring precise accuracy, great care, effort, or attention.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 3, in The Man:
  Wolf's work, which, though not very exacting, had to be done single-handed, kept him to his post.
- 1952 February, H. C. Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in Railway Magazine, page 78:
  Every photographer of experience has his own theories and methods of working, but for the last 14 years I have used a Leica exclusively, and have found it best adapted to the somewhat exacting demands of railway photography, which is by no means an easy branch of the art.
- December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:
  Even if a GDF receives its first deposit in the 2040s, the waste has to be delivered and put away with such exacting caution that it can be filled and closed only by the middle of the 22nd century.
(of a person or organization) Characterized by exaction.
- 1850, T. S. Arthur, chapter 2, in All's For the Best:
  "He is a hard, exacting, money-loving man," was my remark.

(difficult to satisfy): demanding
(requiring precise accuracy, effort, care, or attention): demanding, niggly, pernickety
(characterized by exaction): acquisitive, extortionate, grasping, money-grubbing, rapacious

making great demands; difficult to satisfy

exacting