Exact vs Accurate
Exact and Accurate are two words that are often confused due to the appearing similarity in their meanings. Strictly speaking there is difference between the two words. The word ‘exact’ is used as an adjective in the sense of ‘correct’ or ‘befitting’ as in the sentences:
1. The drawing looked exact.
2. The exact distance between the two villages is 8 kilometers.
In the first sentence the word ‘exact’ conveys the sense of ‘correctness’ and hence the meaning of the sentence would be ‘the drawing looked correct and befitting. In the second sentence the word ‘exact’ conveys the sense of ‘correct’ and hence the meaning of the sentence would be ‘the correct distance between the two villages is 8 kilometers.
On the other hand the word ‘accurate’ is used as an adjective too in the sense of ‘careful’ and ‘precise’. This is the major difference between the two words, namely, exact and accurate. Observe the two sentences:
1. You should be accurate while doing this work.
2. Be slow to take the accurate measurements.
In the first sentence you can see that the word ‘accurate’ gives the meaning of ‘careful’ and the meaning of the sentence would be ‘you should be careful while doing this work’. In the second sentence you can see that the word ‘accurate’ gives the meaning of ‘precise’ and hence the meaning of the sentence would be ‘be slow to take the precise measurements.’
It is interesting to note that the word ‘accurate’ has the adverbial form in the word ‘accurately’. The word ‘exact’ has its adverbial form in the word ‘exactly’. The two words have their noun forms as ‘exactness’ and ‘accuracy’. These are the differences between the two words ‘accurate’ and ‘exact’ and these differences should be known for sure to avoid confusion.