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.
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
Colloff’s reporting is, as usual, dogged and exhaustive, and the book reads like a thriller, but never sacrifices the humanity of the people Skalnik hurt.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 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
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 • Feb. 12, 2026
Press coverage had been exhaustive, taking up most of the front page of the daily newspapers.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
