overprecise
Too finely calibrated
Overprecise describes excessive exactness that becomes counterproductive or absurd.
An overprecise measurement might specify a distance to the nanometer when meters would do.
Overprecise language can obscure meaning through unnecessary qualifications: His overprecise instructions took twenty minutes to explain a five-second task.
The word implies that precision has a point of diminishing returns.
Demanding great care
- obsessiveConsumed by fixation
- fastidiousExcessively attentive to detail
- scrupulousThorough and principled
- punctiliousExcessively careful about details
meticulous · fussy · finicky · particular · demanding · overachieving · perfectionism · flawless
Excessive focus on trivialities
- nitpickingExcessive focus on trivialities
- quibblingPetty objection-raising
- pettifoggingFussing over trivialities
- cavilingPetty fault-finding
captious · carping · hypercritical · overcritical · fussbudget · literalist · scholastic · pedantry
Lacking basis in reality
- academicRelating to education or theory
- theoreticalBased on hypothesis, untested
- hypotheticalAssumed but unproven
- immaterialLacking physical form; unimportant
irrelevant · superfluous · unnecessary · excessive · esoteric · abstract · inapplicable · unusable
Unable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
- unbendingRefusing to change position
- unadaptableCannot modify to fit
dogmatic · intransigent · obstinate · narrow · strict · literal-minded · rule-bound · formulaic
exacting
Demanding great care
- obsessiveConsumed by fixation
- fastidiousExcessively attentive to detail
- scrupulousThorough and principled
punctilious · meticulous · fussy · finicky · particular · demanding · overachieving · perfectionism · flawless · immaculate
hair-splitting
Excessive focus on trivialities
- nitpickingExcessive focus on trivialities
- quibblingPetty objection-raising
- pettifoggingFussing over trivialities
caviling · captious · carping · hypercritical · overcritical · fussbudget · literalist · scholastic · pedantry · semantics
unrealistic
Lacking basis in reality
- academicRelating to education or theory
- theoreticalBased on hypothesis, untested
- hypotheticalAssumed but unproven
immaterial · irrelevant · superfluous · unnecessary · excessive · esoteric · abstract · inapplicable · unusable · overspecified
rigid
Unable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
- unbendingRefusing to change position
unadaptable · dogmatic · intransigent · obstinate · narrow · strict · literal-minded · rule-bound · formulaic · mechanical
overprecisevague
Unclear, ill-defined
imprecise · inexact · approximate · fuzzy · loose
over, precise, precision, precisely, imprecise, preciseness, imprecision, precisionist, impreciseness