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definitions

expansive

[ik-span-siv]
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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.
  3. tending to expand or capable of expanding.
  4. causing expansion: the expansive force of heat.
  5. working by expansion, as an engine.
  6. Psychiatry. marked by an abnormal euphoric state and by delusions of grandeur.

Origin of expansive

First recorded in 1645–55; expans(ion) + -ive
Related formsex·pan·sive·ly, adverbex·pan·sive·ness, nounnon·ex·pan·sive, adjectivenon·ex·pan·sive·ly, adverbnon·ex·pan·sive·ness, nouno·ver·ex·pan·sive, adjectiveo·ver·ex·pan·sive·ly, adverbo·ver·ex·pan·sive·ness, nounun·ex·pan·sive, adjectiveun·ex·pan·sive·ly, adverbun·ex·pan·sive·ness, noun
Can be confusedexpansive expensive (see synonym study at expensive)

Synonyms for expansive

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2. sociable, extroverted, outgoing, genial, unreserved; gushy, gushing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for expansiveness

grandiosity, dignity, breadth, pomp, glory, majesty, richness, beauty, gravity, greatness, brilliance, vastness, splendor, opulence, magnificence, nobility, redundancy, verbosity, circumlocution, loquacity

Examples from the Web for expansiveness

Historical Examples of expansiveness

  • One revels in expansiveness with his own, and I can speak to you as I cannot speak to another.'

    Lord Kilgobbin

    Charles Lever

  • This old Madeira here will explain any amount of expansiveness.

  • "It shall be only a little," began Friedrich, repenting of his expansiveness.

    A Tar-Heel Baron

    Mabell Shippie Clarke Pelton

  • It possessed the qualities of boundless adaptability and expansiveness.

    The Choctaw Freedmen

    Robert Elliott Flickinger

  • Confronted with the results of his expansiveness, Soames scrutinized his visitor.

British Dictionary definitions for expansiveness

expansive

adjective
  1. able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion
  2. wide; extensive
  3. friendly, open, or talkativean expansive person
  4. grand or extravagantan expansive way of life
  5. 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 Formsexpansively, adverbexpansiveness, 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 expansiveness

expansive

adj.

1650s, "tending to expand," from Latin expans-, past participle stem of expandere (see expand) + -ive. Related: Expansively; expansiveness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper