thorough

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈθʌ.ɹə/, /ˈθʌɹəʊ/, SAMPA: /"TV.r@/
• (US) IPA: /ˈθʌ.ɹoʊ/, SAMPA: /TV.roU/

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ʌrə

Etymology 1

Old English þuruh.

Alternative forms

• thoro

Adjective

thorough (comparative more thorough, superlative most thorough)

1. painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail

   The Prime Minister announced a thorough investigation into the death of a father of two in police custody.

   He is the most thorough worker I have ever seen.

   The infested house needs a thorough cleansing before it will be inhabitable.

2. utter; complete; absolute

   It is a thorough pleasure to see him beg for mercy.

Translations

detailed

Bengali: (of attention to detail) পুঙ্খানুপুঙ্খ (bn) Chinese: Mandarin: 周密 (zh) (zhōumì), 彻底 (zh) (chèdǐ), 完全 (zh) (wánquán) Czech: důkladný (cs) m. Dutch: grondig (nl), diepgaand (nl) Finnish: huolellinen (fi), perinpohjainen (fi), perusteellinen (fi) French: minutieux, -euse; soigné, -ée German: gründlich (de) Hungarian: alapos (hu) Icelandic: ítarlegur (is) m. Italian: minuzioso (it) m., accurato (it) m.

Norwegian: grundig (no) c., grundige (no) pl. Polish: gruntowny m. Portuguese: minucioso (pt) m. Russian: тщательный (ru) (tščátel’nyj), доскональный (ru) (doskonál’nyj), основательный (ru) (osnovátel'nyj), (of a report, answer) исчерпывающий (ru) (isčérpyvajuščij), (complete) полный (ru) (pólnyj), всесторонний (ru) (vsestorónnij) Scots: thora, thorae Scottish Gaelic: pongail (gd) Spanish: minucioso, -a Vietnamese: hoàn toàn (vi)

utter; complete; absolute

Finnish: perinpohjainen (fi), perusteellinen (fi) French: exhaustif, -ive Norwegian: grundig (1-5), nøyaktig (1-5), nøye (1) Portuguese: exaustivo (pt) m.

Russian: законченный (finished) (about man), полный, совершенный (absolute); высший (about something that can change its power, like pleasure) Spanish: exhaustivo, -a

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: gedegen

Derived terms

• thoroughbred
• thoroughgoing
• thoroughly

Etymology 2

A disyllabic form of Old English þurh (“through”).

Preposition

thorough

1. (obsolete) Through. [9th-19th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.xii:

     Ye might haue seene the frothy billowes fry / Vnder the ship, as thorough them she went [...].