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 (opposed to 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

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

Etymology

Origin of intensive

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

Explanation

Intensive describes things that are extreme, highly dramatic, or just plain thorough. An intensive chemistry course meets six days a week for five hours a day. If you're in intensive care, you're getting close medical scrutiny, 24/7. Intensive is intense, which comes from the Latin for “high strung,” plus –ive, meaning “having the qualities of.” It’s an adjective that cranks up whatever it modifies. Doing too many intensive activities can make you high strung indeed, like taking that intensive chemistry class or participating in an intensive study on the effects of sleeplessness by staying awake for four days straight. That might get you put in intensive care.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intensive

Yang, whom Tang once nominated for his university’s top academic award, began intensive training in programming at age 17, competing in China’s National Olympiad in Informatics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

When Mark woke up in intensive care a couple of days later, there was "a lump where the right leg was and no lump where the left leg was".

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

AI processing is extremely energy intensive, and China has demanded that data centres draw 80 percent of their power from renewable sources by the end of this decade.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Summarizing and analyzing customer service call transcripts—what Markus describes as an intensive process—is supported entirely by open models, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Those yields in turn supported intensive pig production.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

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