thoroughbred

[ thur-oh-bred, -uh-bred, thuhr- ]

adjective

1. of pure or unmixed breed, stock, or lineage, as a horse or other animal; bred from the purest and best blood.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter) of or relating to the Thoroughbred breed of horses.
3. (of a person) having good breeding or education.

noun

1. (initial capital letter) one of a breed of horses, to which all racehorses belong, originally developed in England by crossing Arabian stallions with European mares.
2. a thoroughbred animal.
3. a well-bred or well-educated person.

thoroughbred

¹

/ ˈθʌrəˌbrɛd /

adjective

1. purebred

noun

1. a pedigree animal; purebred
2. a person regarded as being of good breeding

Thoroughbred

²

/ ˈθʌrəˌbrɛd /

noun

1. a British breed of horse the ancestry of which can be traced to English mares and Arab sires; most often used as a racehorse

Other Words From

• thorough·bredness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of thoroughbred¹

First recorded in 1695–1705; thorough + bred

Example Sentences

The growth of the bush circuit is also problematic for horses on the regulated quarter horse racing circuit, the dustier cousin of thoroughbred racing popular in the American southwest and Mexico.

From Washington Post

Fireman was new to the endeavor, but he’d already spent millions building a professional horse-racing operation, including dropping almost $1 million on a single thoroughbred, a descendant of a Preakness winner.

From ProPublica

The sport’s royalty, including the billionaire owners of thoroughbreds, was well represented.

From ProPublica

Billionaires can not only deduct the costs of buying, owning and training thoroughbred horses, but they can treat all manner of pastimes and side pursuits as businesses, and then tap those businesses as an extra source of deductions.

From ProPublica

“It’s a thoroughbred, all-electric racing plane,” says Matheu Parr, who leads the project for Rolls-Royce.

From Popular-Science

De la Renta was a confident thoroughbred, never needing to scream for attention.

From The Daily Beast

They acquired Lucky Pulpit for the bargain price of $2,000—about as cheap as a thoroughbred comes these days.

From The Daily Beast

A thoroughbred horse stampeding across the Churchill Downs turn.

From The Daily Beast

The mix of  kickboxing, yoga and Pilates would surely whip anyone into shape, let alone a thoroughbred supermodel.

From The Daily Beast

Occasionally you will encounter a thoroughbred Weenie, a type of Weenie who is to the weaseling, weaselish manner born.

From The Daily Beast

If he had not the air of a thoroughbred, he had none of the plebeian clumsiness of the cart-horse.

From Project Gutenberg

But in his eye was the gay inextinguishable gleam of the thoroughbred.

From Project Gutenberg

Brought him a high-stepping, fiery, thoroughbred colt which was the admiration and envy of all Riveredge.

From Project Gutenberg

A well-bred horse is essential, and other things being equal, if clean thoroughbred, so much the better.

From Project Gutenberg

That old ramshackle of a lumber nag whose every rib you can count through her skin is your beautiful thoroughbred?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• graded