thorough

³thor·ough

adj
\ˈthər-(ˌ)ō, sometimes ˈthȯr-; ˈthə-(ˌ)rō\

Definition of THOROUGH

1

: carried through to completion : exhaustive <a thorough search>

2

a : marked by full detail <a thorough description> b : careful about detail : painstaking <a thorough scholar> c : complete in all respects <thorough pleasure> d : having full mastery (as of an art) <a thorough musician>

— thor·ough·ly adverb

— thor·ough·ness noun

Examples of THOROUGH

1. a thorough understanding of the rules and regulations
2. The investigator will have to be thorough.
3. … one realized that it was the restaurant's thorough and even comic Frenchness that had made it so entirely New York. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2004
4. Bruce tells me to squat down and Koani sidles up, ears flattened, tail tucked away, and gives my face a thorough licking. —Nicholas Evans, Daily Telegraph, 26 Sept. 1998
5. The job was uncharacteristically thorough for a Russian contract killing—three different types of bullets riddled Mikho's body. —New Republic, 15 Dec. 1997
6. … as I look into their black faces, their hope is so thorough and consuming it frightens me. —Bob Shacochis, Harper's, February 1995

Origin of THOROUGH

(see ¹thorough)

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to THOROUGH

Synonyms: all-out, arrant, blank, blooming [chiefly British], bodacious [Southern & Midland], categorical (also categoric), clean, complete, consummate, cotton-picking, crashing, damn, damned, dead, deadly, definite, downright, dreadful, fair, flat, flat-out, out-and-out, outright, perfect, plumb, profound, pure, rank, regular, sheer, simple, stark, stone, straight-out, absolute, thoroughgoing, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unconditional, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, very

Antonyms: compendious, summary

Related Words: authentic, classic, genuine, real, veritable; constant, endless, eternal, perpetual, undying, unremitting; extreme, unrestricted; confirmed, habitual, hopeless, inveterate; extraordinary, frightful, horrible, huge, main, superlative, supreme, surpassing, terrible, terrific

Near Antonyms: doubtful, dubious, equivocal, qualified, questionable, restricted, uncertain

see all synonyms and antonyms

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