rivet counter

noun

A person who has an obsession with the minutiae of their particular interest, especially in military and technology history. Anyone preoccupied with small distinguishing features between different items.

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Meanings

nounrivet counter (plural rivet counters)

plural rivet counters

  1. idiomaticA person who has an obsession with the minutiae of their particular interest, especially in military and technology history. Anyone preoccupied with small distinguishing features between different items.

    For the rivet-counters, there were 10,036 Lightnings produced, including 113 built by Consolidated-Vultee...

    1979, A.H.S., “P-38 Lightning at war: book review”, in The AOPA Pilot: Voice of General Aviation, page 99
    1 more example

    Peter Hodges' survey will certainly be of interest to naval rivet-counters and ship-modellers but, unfortunately, probably to few others.

    1979, Geoffrey Till, “Destroyer Weapons of World War II: book review”, in The Mariner's Mirror, page 377
Cite this entry
APA

rivet counter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rivet%20counter

MLA

“rivet counter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rivet%20counter. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rivet counter,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rivet%20counter.

Source: rivet counter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.