All 3 Uses of
punctilious
in
Moby Dick
- Now a certain grand merchant ship once touched at Rokovoko, and its commander—from all accounts, a very stately punctilious gentleman, at least for a sea captain—this commander was invited to the wedding feast of Queequeg's sister, a pretty young princess just turned of ten.†
Chpt 13-15
- …profits, not upon fixed wages, but upon their common luck, together with their common vigilance, intrepidity, and hard work; though all these things do in some cases tend to beget a less rigorous discipline than in merchantmen generally; yet, never mind how much like an old Mesopotamian family these whalemen may, in some primitive instances, live together; for all that, the punctilious externals, at least, of the quarter-deck are seldom materially relaxed, and in no instance done away.†
Chpt 31-33
- The sea-vultures all in pious mourning, the air-sharks all punctiliously in black or speckled.†
Chpt 67-69 *
Definition:
-
(punctilious) paying careful attention to details -- especially social conventions