Accurate means correct, exact, or matching reality closely. When your answer on a math test is accurate, it's the right answer. When a weather forecast is accurate, it actually rains when predicted. When an archer's shot is accurate, the arrow hits exactly where it was aimed.

Accuracy matters whenever precision is important. A scientist needs accurate measurements in experiments. A historian needs accurate facts when writing about the past. A mapmaker needs accurate distances and locations. If someone gives you directions that aren't accurate, you might end up at the wrong place.

The word comes from the idea of taking care to get things right. An accurate description captures the details truthfully, without exaggeration or mistakes. An accurate memory recalls events as they really happened. When someone calls your work accurate, they're saying you did it carefully and got it right.

People sometimes confuse accurate with precise, but they're slightly different. Precise means exact and specific, while accurate means correct and true. You could give a very precise answer (like saying something happened at exactly 3:47 PM) that isn't accurate if it really happened at 2:30 PM. The best work is both accurate and precise: specific and correct.