exhaustive
Americanadjective
-
exhausting exhausting a subject, topic, etc.; comprehensive; thorough.
He published an exhaustive study of Greek vases.
-
tending to exhaust or drain, as resources or strength.
a protracted, exhaustive siege of illness.
adjective
-
comprehensive in scope; thorough
an exhaustive survey
-
tending to exhaust
Other Word Forms
- exhaustively adverb
- exhaustiveness noun
- nonexhaustive adjective
- nonexhaustively adverb
- nonexhaustiveness noun
- unexhaustive adjective
- unexhaustively adverb
Etymology
Origin of exhaustive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As always, this is not an exhaustive list.
From BBC
Mr. Lewis is alternately magnetized and repulsed by Sellers and goes to exhaustive lengths to comprehend him, eventually resorting to quoting Sellers—a believer in the power of the Ouija board—via a spiritual medium.
The records are not exhaustive because not all coroners volunteer them and it takes seven months on average for drug-related deaths to be registered, so some appear in the following year's figures.
From BBC
Like its predecessors, “Triumph and Illusion” combines exhaustive scholarship with eminent readability.
"So I haven't had time to conduct an exhaustive study. But in all honesty, Anastasia, I have to tell you that I think he will probably wet his diapers a whole lot."
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
