expansive
Americanadjective
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having a wide range or extent; comprehensive; extensive.
expansive mountain scenery.
-
(of a person's character or speech) effusive, unrestrained, free, or open.
Our expansive host welcomed us warmly.
- Synonyms:
- gushing, gushy, unreserved, genial, outgoing, extroverted, sociable
-
causing expansion.
the expansive force of heat.
-
working by expansion, as an engine.
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Psychiatry. marked by an abnormal euphoric state and by delusions of grandeur.
adjective
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able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion
-
wide; extensive
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friendly, open, or talkative
an expansive person
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grand or extravagant
an expansive way of life
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psychiatry lacking restraint in the expression of feelings, esp in having delusions of grandeur or being inclined to overvalue oneself or one's work
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of expansive
First recorded in 1645–55; expans(ion) + -ive
Explanation
Expansive is all about being able to grow or get larger. An expansive piece of land is large, an expansive mind is one that is always thinking of the big picture, an expansive vocabulary is one that holds lots of words. Warning: don't confuse expansive, "large," with expensive, "high priced." They differ by only one letter but mean very different things. A Big Mac may contain what McDonald's advertizes as an expansive all-beef patty, but it isn't expensive food.
Vocabulary lists containing expansive
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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This Week in Pop Culture: November 3 - 9, 2018
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Vocabulary from "John L. O'Sullivan on 'Manifest Destiny' " from 1839
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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.
“YouTube Premium brings your favorite creators, artists and cultural moments together uninterrupted, and now, we’re pairing that ultimate viewing experience with Peacock’s expansive lineup of live sports.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Running advanced frontier models with expansive context windows places immense pressure on memory and manufacturing pipelines,” DeYonker told MarketWatch in emailed comments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Since 2016, they’ve been digitizing Saar’s expansive archive, including correspondence, sketches, playbills, documents and ephemera.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Today, Sanghvi said, many members are drawn less by the networking than by subsidized meals, expansive sports facilities and green space in the middle of an increasingly congested city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The son of Grace and Ernest Turner, the daughter of Emily and Jack Tallis, the childhood friends, the university acquaintances, in a state of expansive, tranquil joy, confronted the momentous change they had achieved.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
