thorough

adjective

thor·ough | \ ˈthər-(ˌ)ō

, sometimes ˈthȯr-; ˈthə-(ˌ)rō\

Definition of thorough

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : carried through to completion : exhaustive a thorough search

2a : 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

thorough

preposition

Definition of thorough (Entry 2 of 3)

archaic

: through

thorough

adverb

Definition of thorough (Entry 3 of 3)

archaic

: through

Other Words from thorough Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about thorough

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Examples of thorough in a Sentence

Adjective

… 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 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 The job was uncharacteristically thorough for a Russian contract killing—three different types of bullets riddled Mikho's body. — New Republic, 15 Dec. 1997 a thorough understanding of the rules and regulations The investigator will have to be thorough.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

In the article, Wolf says a lot of the media coverage around Huawei's export ban hasn't been thorough enough, as it hasn't taken into account the full scope of US export law. — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, "Huawei’s export ban is wider in scope than most people imagine," 10 June 2019 Their proposals are highly detailed and thorough, often running to dozens of pages in length. — Catherine Rampell, The Denver Post, "Rampell: Everyone’s got a climate plan, but where’s the carbon tax?," 9 June 2019 Use a hidden device detector If a physical search isn't thorough enough, try using a hidden device detector. — Micah Walker, Detroit Free Press, "Hidden cameras: How to find them in a bathroom, bedroom," 7 June 2019 The censorship will be so thorough that Chinese people won’t even be able to send a text message that contains any one of the numbers eight, nine, six, and four. — Helen Raleigh, National Review, "Thirty Years after Tiananmen, China Is Still Unwilling to Tell the Truth," 4 June 2019 Dina said her husband is very thorough and honest in his reviews, sometimes going back to update them after discovering something new about a product. — Kim Hyatt, Twin Cities, "Meet the small-town North Dakota man who is Amazon’s No. 1 reviewer. He gets a lot of ‘free’ stuff.," 3 June 2019 And federal authorities have been dispatched to support state and local police and conduct a full and thorough federal investigation. — Alex Ward, Vox, "Trump calls the Pittsburgh shooting “anti-Semitic” and a “wicked act of mass murder”," 27 Oct. 2018 After a thorough and months-long application process, the nearly 2,900 applications from female founders in more than 140 countries were whittled down to 21 finalists. — Danielle Mcnally, Marie Claire, "Cartier’s Women’s Initiative Award Winners Prove Women Will Change the World," 5 May 2019 The state also ordered Milwaukee officials to review all 491 lead-poisoning cases reported to the city from 2012 to 2017 to make sure the children received nursing care and thorough inspections and removal of lead hazards from their houses. — Daniel Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Protecting Milwaukee's children: What we know about the latest problems with the city's lead poisoning prevention efforts," 31 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thorough.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.