precisian

/pɹɪˈsɪ.ʒən/

Etymology

From precise + -ian.

precisian means A religious purist; a Puritan. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

precisian is pronounced /pɹɪˈsɪ.ʒən/.

Why “precisian” is a great word

PRECISIAN — [Noun] A person who is excessively strict or punctilious in observing rules or forms, especially in religious matters. From the English word 'precise' (meaning exact, strict) + the suffix '-ian' (denoting an adherent). First attested in the late 16th century. Unlike a Puritan, which denotes a specific historical sect, or a pedant, which emphasizes ostentatious book-learning, a precisian is defined by a scrupulous, often moralizing fixation on the correct procedure. It is the exacting alignment of books on a shelf not for beauty but for rectitude, the pained correction of a minor liturgical error, and the glacial disapproval at a breach of etiquette—a life lived as a relentless proofreading of the world’s messy draft.

noun

A religious purist; a Puritan.
Someone who strictly observes the rules; a pedant or stickler.“Her speech was hardly more grating upon him, precisian though he was, than the careless, untutored lapses of a child might have been; all the senses of comparison as readily ignored them.”