thoroughgoing

American  

[thur-oh-goh-ing, -uh-goh-, thuhr-] / ˈθɜr oʊˌgoʊ ɪŋ, -əˌgoʊ-, ˈθʌr- /

adjective

1. doing things thoroughly.

2. carried out to the full extent; thorough.

3. complete; unqualified.

   a thoroughgoing knave.

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thoroughgoing British  

/ ˈθʌrəˌɡəʊɪŋ /

adjective

1. extremely thorough

2. (usually prenominal) absolute; complete

   thoroughgoing incompetence

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Other Word Forms

• thoroughgoingly adverb
• thoroughgoingness noun

Etymology

Origin of thoroughgoing

First recorded in 1810–20; thorough + going

Example Sentences

“The Bloody Crossroads,” published in 1987, isn’t the kind of book you expect a journalist to write: a collection of perceptive, thoroughgoing literary essays on important writers from Henry Adams to Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

From The Wall Street Journal

The irrepressible Mr. Ozawa surmounted this prejudice by dint of his outsize personality, thoroughgoing musicianship and sheer hard work.

From New York Times

At a deeper level, Obama explores his search for identity as a man of mixed race and split national heritage, as well as the thoroughgoing problems of racism in America.

From Washington Post

On the one hand, he was a thoroughgoing modernist.

From Washington Post

But a more thoroughgoing marriage of old and new comes in a new project from Kristin Dickson-Okuda, one of several creators commissioned just for this show.

From New York Times