exhaustive

adjective

ex·​haus·​tive ig-ˈzȯ-stiv 

: including all possibilities : thorough

conducted an exhaustive search

exhaustively adverb

exhaustiveness noun

exhaustivity

ig-ˌzȯ-ˈsti-və-tē 

noun

Synonyms of exhaustive

• thorough
• extensive
• comprehensive
• complete

Examples of exhaustive in a Sentence

The list was long but not exhaustive.

after an exhaustive search of our house, we still hadn't found the cat

Recent Examples on the Web

Julia Priolli, Head of Creative for Brazilian Originals at Amazon MGM Studios, says Versos rose to the top after an exhaustive search to find the film’s title star. — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026

The film’s characters participate in an exhaustive dance competition, competing for a hefty cash prize. — Amina Ayoud, Footwear News, 15 Aug. 2026

The non-exhaustive sum of events within this time frame included winning Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards and scoring two Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 15 Aug. 2026

To even be able to cherry-pick a record this specific, Newcastle would have had to go out of their way to compile an exhaustive list of deals by age and position. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1789, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

exhaustive

adjective

ex·​haus·​tive ig-ˈzȯ-stiv 

: trying all possibilities : thorough

an exhaustive search

exhaustively adverb

exhaustiveness noun