By-the-book
adj
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Strictly adhering to rules, legal requirements, or official procedures. idiomatic
"Given the troubled Bayou State's long history of rogues and demagogues, the most unusual thing about Gov. Jindal may be his record of by-the-book ethics."
Example
More examples"Given the troubled Bayou State's long history of rogues and demagogues, the most unusual thing about Gov. Jindal may be his record of by-the-book ethics."
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.