Accurate , exact , precise and true , as here considered, agree in implying close conformity to an objective standard. Accurate suggests that there are degrees of conformity to such a standard and stresses the painstaking care necessary for the attainment of fidelity to truth or fact: It took a week of investigation to get an even reasonably accurate account of the accident. Exact emphasizes extreme accuracy in measurable quantities and qualities: The exact wave length assigned to a transmitting station must always be maintained. Precise stresses great accuracy with regard to minute details: The assembling of the parts of a watch must be precise . True , as here considered, implies absolute accuracy , particularly in reproductions of an original: a true copy of a birth certificate.

Correct suggests the absence of error or fault and conformity to some standard. It is more general than the other words in this group because it applies to such things as taste and fashion as well as to truth or fact: the correct dress for a formal dinner. Right is largely interchangeable with correct , but often adds a hint of moral approval: the right course of action.

Nice , in this sense, meaning a high or even an inordinate degree of precision or exactness, is passing out of usage, but it is still encountered in formal writing.