thor·ough
ˈthər-(ˌ)ō 
sometimes ˈthȯr-;
ˈthə-(ˌ)rō
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
thoroughness
noun
archaic
: through
Synonyms
Adjective
- absolute
- all-out
- arrant
- blank
- blooming [chiefly British]
- bodacious [Southern & Midland]
- categorical
- categoric
- clean
- complete
- consummate
- 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
- thoroughgoing
- total
- unadulterated
- unalloyed
- unconditional
- unmitigated
- unqualified
- utter
- very
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.
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
Calmatters, The Mercury News, 4 Dec. 2024
At this stage in the gender-affirming care process, after a thorough evaluation by a medical professional, a patient may also receive hormone therapy that can lead to gender-affirming physical change.
—Jen Christensen, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024
Schumer has largely refrained from direct confrontations over Trump's nominees, opting instead to press for thorough vetting and FBI background checks.
—Mark R. Weaver, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024
My organization is focusing on building platforms that enable architectural flexibility and extensibility, easy deployments, and thorough end-to-end evaluations while incorporating evolving patterns of GenAI. - Meghana Puvvadi, NVIDIA
6.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for thorough 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Adjective
In interviews with CalMatters, representatives for all three utilities said the process in place to oversee wildfire spending at the utilities commission was robust and thorough.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 4 Dec. 2024
At this stage in the gender-affirming care process, after a thorough evaluation by a medical professional, a patient may also receive hormone therapy that can lead to gender-affirming physical change.
—Jen Christensen, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024
Schumer has largely refrained from direct confrontations over Trump's nominees, opting instead to press for thorough vetting and FBI background checks.
—Mark R. Weaver, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024
My organization is focusing on building platforms that enable architectural flexibility and extensibility, easy deployments, and thorough end-to-end evaluations while incorporating evolving patterns of GenAI. - Meghana Puvvadi, NVIDIA
6.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for thorough
Dictionary Entries Near thorough
Cite this Entry
“Thorough.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thorough. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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