exhaustive
ex·hau·stive/ɪɡˈzɔstɪv/adjective
exhaustive is spelled E-X-H-A-U-S-T-I-V-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (ex·hau·stive). It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, exhaustive means “Including every possible element: fully comprehensive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in exhaustive?
| Letters | 10: E-X-H-A-U-S-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ex·hau·stive |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is exhaustive?
Exhaustive appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce exhaustive?
- UK /ɪɡˈzɔːstɪv/
- US /ɪɡˈzɔstɪv/
- US /ɪɡˈzɑstɪv/
Exhaustive has 3 syllables, split ex·hau·stive in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-exhaustive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of exhaustive
- more exhaustive comparative
- most exhaustive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does exhaustive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Including every possible element: fully comprehensive.
We made an exhaustive list.
- 2
archaicCausing exhaustion; very tiring.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Exhaustive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense including every possible element:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | exhaustif |
| German | vollständig, erschöpfend, abschließend |
| Portuguese | exaustivo |
| Spanish | exhaustivo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does exhaustive come from?
Borrowed from Medieval Latin exhaustīvus. By surface analysis, exhaust + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).