exhaustive

1 trying all possibilities after an exhaustive search of our house, we still hadn't found the cat Synonyms all-out, clean, complete, comprehensive, full-scale, out-and-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, total Related Words broad, extensive, far-reaching, in-depth, sweeping, wide, wide-ranging; general, global, inclusive, methodical (also methodic), systematic; no-holds-barred, unhampered, unrestrained Near Antonyms aimless, desultory, haphazard, hit-or-miss, random; cursory, shallow, slipshod, superficial; limited, narrow, restricted

2 covering everything or all important points an exhaustive survey of the nation's sexual habits Synonyms all-embracing, all-in [chiefly British], all-inclusive, broad-gauge (or broad-gauged), compendious, complete, comprehensive, cover-all, cyclopedic, embracive, encyclopedic, full, global, inclusive, in-depth, omnibus, panoramic, thorough, universalRelated Words broad, catholic, encyclical, general, inclusionary, overall; cosmic (also cosmical), extensive, far, far-reaching, grand, large, panoptic, sweeping, vast, wide, wide-ranging; blanket, indiscriminate, unrestrictedNear Antonyms circumscribed, limited, narrow, restricted, specialized; exact, precise; individual, singular, specific; incomplete, patchy, sketchy