exhaustive

[ ig-zaws-tiv ]

/ ɪgˈzɔs tɪv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exhaustive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

Nearby words

Origin of exhaustive

First recorded in 1780–90; exhaust + -ive

Related forms

ex·haus·tive·ly, adverbex·haus·tive·ness, nounnon·ex·haus·tive, adjectivenon·ex·haus·tive·ly, adverb

non·ex·haus·tive·ness, nounun·ex·haus·tive, adjectiveun·ex·haus·tive·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for exhaustively

She avoids an exhaustively descriptive definition because she opposes condemning all novels based on the flaws of some novels.
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That allure lives in her exhaustively detailed diaries, published in seven volumes and covering five decades.
‘Mirages’: Anaïs Nin’s Intimate, Unexpurgated Diaries|Lizzie Crocker|October 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But of course - as I stressed in my post above - those questions of high policy have been exhaustively discussed.
UPDATED: David's Bookclub: Iron Curtain|David Frum|November 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
There are many deeply disturbing aspects to this case, which Morris exhaustively documents.
Errol Morris’s “A Wilderness of Error” Revisits Jeffrey MacDonald Case|Raymond Bonner|August 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST

No viewpoint or detail is too insignificant to be exhaustively examined.
20 Views of Life and Death|Ezrha Jean Black|July 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
He explained that difficulty away for her for ever, so exhaustively did he handle it.
The Hall and the Grange|Archibald Marshall
The subject has been exhaustively and learnedly 107 studied by Ambros,24 who has examined the frottola in all its varieties.
Some Forerunners of Italian Opera|William James Henderson
These things cannot be reasoned about, and I very earnestly entreat you not to return to the subject we discussed so exhaustively.
The Portrait of a Lady|Henry James
All this had been fully and exhaustively commented upon by Ellen Robinson during the afternoon.
Cloudy Jewel|Grace Livingston Hill
The coroner questioned her exhaustively as to the missing Priscilla Prentice.
Who?|Elizabeth Kent

British Dictionary definitions for exhaustively

exhaustive

/ (ɪɡˈzɔːstɪv) /

adjective

comprehensive in scope; thoroughan exhaustive survey

tending to exhaust

Derived Formsexhaustively, adverbexhaustiveness, 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

Word Origin and History for exhaustively

exhaustive

adj.

1780s, from exhaust + -ive. Related: Exhaustively; exhaustiveness.

exhaustive

adjective

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Origin of exhaustive

Examples from the Web for exhaustively

exhaustive

adjective

exhaustive