exhaustive
Americanadjective
-
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
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of exhaustive
Explanation
Exhaustive means performed comprehensively and completely. When you recruit a new employee (or spouse), you undertake an exhaustive search for the best talent. When you are exhaustive about something, you are testing all possibilities or considering all elements. If you want to become an attorney you will need an exhaustive knowledge of the leather bound books in the law library. When you exhaust something, you use it up entirely, so something exhaustive is complete. After your exhaustive tour of Rome, you're exhausted.
Vocabulary lists containing exhaustive
The Martian
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From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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Native Speaker
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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.
A few days after the interview, she sent over an exhaustive list of influences of writers, films, podcasts and other miscellany she might have mentioned or left out.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
Today, you can find exhaustive lists of Asian martial arts classics that are either sampled on their albums or referenced within their lyrics.
From Salon • May 31, 2026
Lois Romano, a journalist who has reported on several first ladies, sets the record straight in “An Inconvenient Widow,” an exhaustive and sympathetic biography of a woman whose legacy deserves re-examination.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
They highlighted the DOJ's "exhaustive effort" in collecting and publicly releasing millions of other Epstein-related files in recent months.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
She obviously had a practical cunning which Winston lacked, and she seemed also to have an exhaustive knowledge of the countryside round London, stored away from innumerable community hikes.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
