Punctual

//ˈpʌŋktjʊəl// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Prompt; on time.; Of an event, happening at the appointed time.
  2. 2
    Prompt; on time.; Of a person, acting at the appointed time.

    "Luis is never late; he's the most punctual person I know."

  3. 3
    Existing as a point or series of points.
  4. 4
    Expressing a momentary action that has no duration.
  5. 5
    Periodic; occasional. nonstandard

    "The management of the above mentioned feed sectors is subject to close co-operation with the Member States through […] punctual expert groups meetings where appropriate."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    Observing trivial points; punctilious. dated
Adjective
  1. 1
    acting or arriving or performed exactly at the time appointed wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
prompttimelyaccurateon timeactivealert

Example

More examples

"In the first place, you should be punctual."

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūnctuālis (“relating to a point”), from Late Latin pūnctus (“point”) + -ālis (adjective suffix).

Related phrases

on time

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.