Meanings
comparative more punctual · superlative most punctual · alternative obsolete punctuall
- Prompt; on time.
- Of a person, acting at the appointed time.
Luis is never late; he's the most punctual person I know.
- mathematicsExisting as a point or series of points.
- nonstandardPeriodic; occasional.
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.
- datedObserving trivial points; punctilious.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveacting or arriving or performed exactly at the time appointed
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinpūnctus“point”
- Medieval Latinpūnctuālis“relating to a point”
- Englishpunctual
Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūnctuālis (“relating to a point”), from Late Latin pūnctus (“point”) + -ālis (adjective suffix).
More words from Medieval Latin, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دَقِيق
- دَقِيق (daqīq)prompt
Bulgarian точен
- точен (točen)prompt
Catalan puntual
- puntualprompt
Chinese Mandarin 守時 /守时
- 守時 /守时 (shǒushí)prompt
Czech dochvilný, přesný
- dochvilnýprompt
- přesnýprompt
Danish punktlig
- punktligprompt
Dutch punctueel, stipt
- punctueelprompt
- stiptprompt
Esperanto punktara, momenta
- punktaramathematics: existing as a point or series of points
- momentalinguistics: expressing momentary action
- periodaperiodic; occasional
- akurataprompt
Finnish pistemäinen, punktuaalinen
- pistemäinenmathematics: existing as a point or series of points
- punktuaalinenlinguistics: expressing momentary action
- ajoittainenperiodic; occasional
- täsmällinenprompt
- ajoissaprompt
- säntillinenprompt
French ponctuel, ponctuel
- ponctuelmathematics: existing as a point or series of points
- ponctuelperiodic; occasional
- ponctuelprompt
German pünktlich
- pünktlichprompt
Indonesian tepat waktu
- tepat waktuprompt
Irish pointeáilte, poncúil
- pointeáilteprompt
- poncúilprompt
Italian puntuale
- puntualeprompt
Japanese 時間を守る
- 時間を守る (jikan o mamoru)prompt
Korean 시간-을 엄수하는
- 시간-을 엄수하는 (sigan-eul eomsuhaneun)prompt
Norwegian Bokmål punktlig
- punktligprompt
Polish punktowy, aorystyczny
- punktowymathematics: existing as a point or series of points
- aorystycznylinguistics: expressing momentary action
- okazjonalnyperiodic; occasional
- punktualnyprompt
Portuguese pontual
- pontualprompt
Russian пунктуа́льный
- пунктуа́льный (punktuálʹnyj)prompt
Scottish Gaelic pongail
- pongailprompt
Spanish puntual
- puntualprompt
Swedish punktlig
- punktligprompt
Turkish dakik
- dakikprompt
Ukrainian пунктуа́льний
- пунктуа́льний (punktuálʹnyj)prompt
Cite this entry
punctual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctual
“punctual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctual. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “punctual,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punctual.
Source: punctual on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.