Thorough

ˈθʌrəʊ

adjectivemedium📊CommonScience
1 meaning2 questions

Definitions

1

Performed or done carefully and completely; detailed and painstaking.

ˈθʌrəʊ

adjectiveneutralmedium
Science

Complete and careful; paying attention to every detail

The doctor gave him a thorough medical examination.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're cleaning your room, and you clean *every* corner, under the bed, inside the drawers – you're being thorough! It means doing something carefully and completely, leaving no stone unturned. Like when you're making sure you study all the important parts of the chapter, and not just the first page.

👶 For kids: Doing something very carefully and completely. Like if you clean your room and make sure everything is tidy!

More Examples

2

She conducted a thorough search of the house for the missing keys.

3

The thorough review of the documents revealed several errors.

How It's Used

General

"A thorough investigation was conducted."

Business

"The company performed a thorough market analysis before launching the product."

From Middle English *thorough*, *thorow*, from Old English *þurh* ('through').

Historically used in legal and scientific contexts to emphasize the completeness and accuracy of investigations and analyses.

Memory tip

Think of a 'through' passage, as in going all the way through a process or examination.

Word Origin

LanguageOld English
Original meaning

"through, across"

thorough investigationthorough searchthorough analysisthorough reviewthorough examination

Common misspellings

thoroghthourough

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written