thorough

English

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (accents without the "Hurry-furry" merger)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (accents with the "Hurry-furry" merger)
• 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)
• Catalan: minuciós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 周密 (cmn) (zhōumì), 彻底 (cmn) (chèdǐ), 完全 (cmn) (wánquán), 深入 (cmn) (shēnrù)

• Czech: důkladný (cs) m
• Dutch: grondig (nl), diepgaand (nl)
• Finnish: huolellinen (fi), perinpohjainen (fi), perusteellinen (fi)
• French: minutieux (fr) m, minutieuse (fr) f, soigné (fr) m, soignée (fr) f
• German: gründlich (de)
• Hungarian: alapos (hu)
• Icelandic: ítarlegur (is) m
• Italian: minuzioso (it) m, accurato (it) m

• Maori: tōtōpū (mi)
• 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 (es)
• 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 (es)

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 [...].

Noun

thorough (plural thoroughs)

1. (UK, dialect) A furrow between two ridges, to drain off the surface water.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)