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
Ars Technica, 29 Jan. 2025
John Ramsey, the father of the 6-year-old beauty queen who was killed at her Boulder, Colorado, home, met with local law enforcement Monday afternoon to advocate for a thorough review and new testing of crime scene evidence in his daughter’s case.
—Jean Casarez, CNN, 28 Jan. 2025
After a thorough investigation with the assistance of the West Hartford Police Department, police named Preston as the suspect in the theft, and an arrest warrant application was submitted and approved by New Britain Superior Court, according to police.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 28 Jan. 2025
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings.
—Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 26 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for thorough 
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Adjective
Cruz, who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has said that Congress will do a thorough review of the program early in 2025.
—Ars Technica, 29 Jan. 2025
John Ramsey, the father of the 6-year-old beauty queen who was killed at her Boulder, Colorado, home, met with local law enforcement Monday afternoon to advocate for a thorough review and new testing of crime scene evidence in his daughter’s case.
—Jean Casarez, CNN, 28 Jan. 2025
After a thorough investigation with the assistance of the West Hartford Police Department, police named Preston as the suspect in the theft, and an arrest warrant application was submitted and approved by New Britain Superior Court, according to police.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 28 Jan. 2025
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings.
—Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 26 Jan. 2025
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 7 Feb. 2025.
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