expansive

[ ik-span-siv ]
See synonyms for: expansiveexpansivelyexpansiveness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. having a wide range or extent; comprehensive; extensive: expansive mountain scenery.

  2. (of a person's character or speech) effusive, unrestrained, free, or open: Our expansive host welcomed us warmly.

  1. tending to expand or capable of expanding.

  2. causing expansion: the expansive force of heat.

  3. working by expansion, as an engine.

  4. Psychiatry. marked by an abnormal euphoric state and by delusions of grandeur.

Origin of expansive

1
First recorded in 1645–55; expans(ion) + -ive

Other words for expansive

Other words from expansive

  • ex·pan·sive·ly, adverb
  • ex·pan·sive·ness, noun
  • non·ex·pan·sive, adjective
  • non·ex·pan·sive·ness, noun
  • o·ver·ex·pan·sive, adjective
  • o·ver·ex·pan·sive·ness, noun
  • un·ex·pan·sive, adjective
  • un·ex·pan·sive·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with expansive

Words Nearby expansive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use expansive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for expansive

expansive

/ (ɪkˈspænsɪv) /


adjective
  1. able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion

  2. wide; extensive

  1. friendly, open, or talkative: an expansive person

  2. grand or extravagant: an expansive way of life

  3. psychiatry lacking restraint in the expression of feelings, esp in having delusions of grandeur or being inclined to overvalue oneself or one's work

Derived forms of expansive

  • expansively, adverb
  • expansiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012