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thoroughness

UK/ˈθʌɹənəs/US/ˈθʌɹoʊnəs/
nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,067 of 15,258neutral

Thoroughness is attention to every part of a task. Admirable thoroughness, the thoroughness of the search, praised for his thoroughness.

It is the quality that takes longest and shows least, since a thorough job looks the same as a quick one until something goes wrong. It is what inspections and audits actually measure.

Definitions of thoroughness

  1. 1nounthoroughnessAttention to every part of a task.B2+

    “The detective was famous for his thoroughness and never missed a clue.”

thoroughness is a quality.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *terh₂-

  2. Old English

    þuruh

  3. Middle English

    thoruȝ

  4. English

    thorough

  5. English, today

    thoroughness

From thorough + -ness. thorough comes from Middle English thoruȝ, þoruȝ, from Old English þuruh, a byform of Old English þurh, whence comes English through. The adjective derives from the preposition and adverb. The word developed a syllabic form in cases where the word was fully stressed: when it was used as an adverb, adjective, or noun, and less commonly when used as a preposition.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

thoroughness in the wild

  • The Guardian said "The thoroughness of Smith's failure must be accounted his only achievement".

    Hey! Luciani: The Life and Codex of John Paul I

  • The candidate is also one who has shown initiative, thoroughness, and resourcefulness in their work.

    Pingat Berkebolehan (Tentera)

  • All were distinguished by original research and conscientious thoroughness.

    Samuel Astley Dunham

  • In accordance with this principle, demands for productivity tend to reduce thoroughness while demands for safety reduce efficiency.

    Efficiency–thoroughness trade-off principle

  • "It was a campaign such as was never before seen in Hong Kong and desevered to succeed because of its thoroughness" as one press reported.

    May 1932 Hong Kong sanitary board election

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the þuruh family

thoroughlythorough

thoroughness — used about once every 11,558 pages · #12,067 · point at the bar for the others

  • thoroughfare