Term for someone who has an eye for detail

Question

Is there a term that could describe this sort of person? Like, an eye for detail in arts, an eye for detail as to what is the cause of a conflict (something which other people hadn't seen yet), an eye for detail, which is why a photo was taken from the right angle or perspective.

Answer 1

You mention two different use cases.

an eye for detail in arts ... an eye for detail, which is why a photo was taken from the right angle or perspective

Like jimsug and ChristopherW, my immediate inclinations are meticulous and keen- or sharp-eyed. I don't know of a single adjective (or even a concise phrase) which has this meaning and also carries a specifically artistic connotation. I can only recommend general terms and suggest that you add modifiers to specify the artistic bent. Other potential choices:

• Assiduous
• Sedulous
• Scrupulous (very often used in a moral or ethical sense)
• Fastidious (very often used when speaking about cleanliness)
• Detail-oriented

an eye for detail as to what is the cause of a conflict (something which other people hadn't seen yet)

For this case, I'd use astute. 1, 2. It applies specifically to situational assessment, and I would not use it to describe an artist's attention to detail, e.g. when painting or composing a photograph.

Answer 2

You could call them:

• meticulous, though this might have a negative connotation, depending on the context - as has been pointed out, not always:

  very precise about details, even trivial ones; painstaking

• vigilant, though this has a bit of a supervisory/oversight connotation to it:

  keenly alert to or heedful of trouble or danger, as while others are sleeping or unsuspicious

And.. both of those entries have synonyms and links to thesaurus entries:

thorough, detailed, particular, strict, exact, precise, microscopic, fussy, painstaking, perfectionist, scrupulous, fastidious, punctilious, nit-picky

watchful, alert, on the lookout, careful, cautious, attentive, circumspect, wide awake, on the alert, on your toes, wakeful, on your guard, on the watch, on the qui vive, Argus-eyed, keeping your eyes peeled or skinned

I'm intuiting that what you want is closer to meticulous than painstaking, though.

Answer 3

I usually refer to people like this as observant.

Ted noticed that Kathy and Carol are no longer friend despite always being cordial.

Yea, he's a pretty observant person.

Observant is not typically used with tangible objects though. While it can be, I believe jimsug's first word is a better fit.

Another word that comes to mind is thorough. Thorough simply means that all the details have been examined. You would want a thorough airplane mechanic running quality control to ensure planes are ready for takeoff. You would want an observant manager to realize that a mechanic is thorough enough for the job of quality control.

Answer 4

The another lesser known term for it is "anal". This wikipeida link must be able to help you

Answer 5

I’d go with perceiver or percipient that are defined as:

A person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses.

One that perceives.