exhaustive
adjective
ex·haus·tive
ig-ˈzȯ-stiv 
: including all possibilities : thorough
conducted an exhaustive search
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
The Canary Mission, a hard-line pro-Israel group, compiled an exhaustive online dossier cataloging his activism, with screenshots of his social media pages and selective quotes from his speeches on campus and media interviews.
—
Anvee Bhutani, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2025
Lawyers said the aim of immigration authorities is to encourage immigrants to leave on their own terms, saving the government the exhaustive resources needed to carry out arrests, detentions and deportations.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2025
That spanned from exhaustive pardons to prosecuting the prosecutors and investigating the investigators.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 16 Apr. 2025
These joints required exhaustive study, with mockups made and stress-tested — sometimes to the point of destruction — to ensure their durability and seismic resistance.
—Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for exhaustive
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Anvee Bhutani, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2025
Lawyers said the aim of immigration authorities is to encourage immigrants to leave on their own terms, saving the government the exhaustive resources needed to carry out arrests, detentions and deportations.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2025
That spanned from exhaustive pardons to prosecuting the prosecutors and investigating the investigators.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 16 Apr. 2025
These joints required exhaustive study, with mockups made and stress-tested — sometimes to the point of destruction — to ensure their durability and seismic resistance.
—Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for exhaustive
Cite this Entry
“Exhaustive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exhaustive. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
exhaustive
adjective
ex·haus·tive
ig-ˈzȯ-stiv
: trying all possibilities : thorough
an exhaustive search
exhaustively
adverb
exhaustiveness
noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share