intensive

American  

[in-ten-siv] / ɪnˈtɛn sɪv /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by intensity.

   intensive questioning.

2. tending to intensify; intensifying.

3. Medicine/Medical.

   1. increasing in intensity or degree.

   2. instituting treatment to the limit of safety.

4. noting or pertaining to a system of agriculture involving the cultivation of limited areas, and relying on the maximum use of labor and expenditures to raise the crop yield per unit area (extensive ).

5. requiring or having a high concentration of a specified quality or element (used in combination).

   Coal mining is a labor-intensive industry.

6. Grammar. indicating increased emphasis or force. Certainly is an intensive adverb. Myself in I did it myself is an intensive pronoun.

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noun

1. something that intensifies.

2. Grammar. an intensive element or formation, as -self in himself, or Latin -tō in iac-tō, “I hurl” from iacō, “I throw.”

intensive British  

/ ɪnˈtɛnsɪv /

adjective

1. involving the maximum use of land, time, or some other resource

   intensive agriculture

   an intensive course

2. (usually in combination) using one factor of production proportionately more than others, as specified

   capital-intensive

   labour-intensive

3. agriculture involving or farmed using large amounts of capital or labour to increase production from a particular area Compare extensive

4. denoting or relating to a grammatical intensifier

5. denoting or belonging to a class of pronouns used to emphasize a noun or personal pronoun, such as himself in the sentence John himself did it. In English, intensive pronouns are identical in form with reflexive pronouns

6. of or relating to intension

7. physics of or relating to a local property, measurement, etc, that is independent of the extent of the system Compare extensive

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noun

1. an intensifier or intensive pronoun or grammatical construction

Other Word Forms

• intensively adverb
• intensiveness noun
• unintensive adjective
• unintensively adverb

Etymology

Origin of intensive

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from the Medieval Latin word intēnsīvus. See intense, -ive

Example Sentences

The U.S. economy is less oil intensive than it used to be.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

The acknowledgment underscores that despite weeks of intensive U.S. operations targeting Iran’s missile infrastructure, the threat has not been fully eliminated and continues to be a factor in the military operation.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

But climate change and intensive farming have reduced the variety of flowers bees depend on.

From Science Daily • Mar. 27, 2026

That set off days of intensive efforts using boats to make waves, then excavators to dig up sand and free the whale, as fears grew for its life.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

Maize originated, litis postulated, in a strange, wholesale mutation of teosinte, to which Indians added and subtracted features through intensive breeding.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• accelerated
• all-out
• comprehensive
• demanding
• in-depth
• thorough