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.
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.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
It's far from an exhaustive list and feel free to leave your own comments below.
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026
Local media's accounting of the protests is not exhaustive, and state-run outlets have downplayed their coverage of the demonstrations, while videos flooding social media are often impossible to verify.
From Barron's • Jan. 5, 2026
Though this list isn’t exhaustive by any means, and not all dates have been announced, there’s plenty to start penciling into your calendar.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2026
Eventually I would understand that she didn’t mean the list as exhaustive, something complete, in any way the sum of my character or nature.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
