Both Uses of
precise
in
The Great Gatsby
- It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that ... concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.
p. 48..4 *precisely = exactly
- Precisely at that point it vanished — and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd.
p. 48..5precisely = exactly or accurately
Definition:
-
(precise as in: about noon; 12:03 to be precise) exact (accurate)editor's notes: In the fields of science, engineering, and statistics, precise and accurate are not properly used as synonyms the way they are in general usage.
If you throw darts at a dartboard and keep missing the bullseye, but hit in the same place on the dartboard each time, you would be described as precise, but not accurate.
If you seldom hit the bullseye, but tended to get close each time, you would be described as accurate, but not precise.
Finally, if you hit the bullseye each time, you would be considered both accurate and precise.