What does accuracy mean?
Accuracy is the quality of being correct, exact, and free from error. It describes how faithfully a statement, piece of information, measurement, or piece of work corresponds to the truth or to an accepted standard. The word is indispensable in fields where correctness matters most — journalism, science, engineering, medicine, and data analysis — where claims and instruments alike are judged by their accuracy. It is generally used formally and neutrally, though it often implies praise when high ('remarkable accuracy') and criticism when low ('serious doubts about its accuracy'). In technical contexts, accuracy is carefully distinguished from precision: a measuring device may give highly repeatable results that are consistently wrong, making it precise but not accurate. Derived from the Latin 'accurare', meaning to take care over something, the word reminds us that being right is usually the product of care rather than luck.
nounThe quality or state of being correct, precise, and free from error; the degree to which a measurement, statement, or result conforms to the truth or to a standard.
- The quality of being correct or free from error, as in statements, information, or work.
- The degree to which a measurement or instrument conforms to the true value or accepted standard.
"The witness described the events with remarkable accuracy."
"Journalists are expected to verify facts with scrupulous accuracy before publication."
"The GPS system can pinpoint your location with an accuracy of a few metres."
Rarely used; 'accuracies' appears mainly in technical writing referring to multiple measurements or degrees of accuracy across different instruments or results.
"The two sensors showed markedly different accuracies under field conditions."
A rifle can fire five shots in a group tighter than a coin yet still miss the target entirely — perfectly precise, completely inaccurate.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of accuracy
Accuracy entered English in the early 17th century, borrowed from the Latin 'accuratia', derived from 'accurare', meaning 'to take care of' or 'to do with care', formed from 'ad-' (toward) and 'cura' (care). The same Latin root 'cura' gives English a family of related words including 'accurate', 'curator', 'cure', and 'secure'. Its sense narrowed from carefulness in general to correctness and freedom from error, especially from the 18th century onward as science and measurement placed growing value on exactness.
Related word forms
How accuracy is actually used
A neutral, largely formal word common in journalism, science, engineering, and data contexts. It carries no inherent positive or negative connotation but is usually valued; phrases like 'questioning the accuracy' signal doubt. In technical use, accuracy is distinguished from precision.
Easily confused with accuracy
Precision refers to the fineness or repeatability of a measurement or statement, while accuracy refers to how close it is to the true value — a result can be precise without being accurate.