thoroughgoing
tho·rough·go·ing/ˈθʌɹəˌɡoʊɪŋ/adjective
thoroughgoing is spelled T-H-O-R-O-U-G-H-G-O-I-N-G: 13 letters and 4 syllables (tho·rough·go·ing). It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 117,098th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, thoroughgoing means “With great attention to detail; complete, thorough” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in thoroughgoing?
| Letters | 13: T-H-O-R-O-U-G-H-G-O-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: tho·rough·go·ing |
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 117,098th 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 thoroughgoing?
Thoroughgoing appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 117,098th 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 thoroughgoing?
- UK /ˈθʌɹəˌɡəʊɪŋ/
- US /ˈθʌɹəˌɡoʊɪŋ/
- US /-ɹoʊ/
Thoroughgoing has 4 syllables, split tho·rough·go·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-thoroughgoing.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of thoroughgoing
- more thoroughgoing comparative
- most thoroughgoing superlative
- thorough-going
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does thoroughgoing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
With great attention to detail; complete, thorough.
He did a thoroughgoing job of cleaning up the broken glass.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Thoroughgoing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense with great attention to detail – see also complete, thorough:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | à tous crins |
| German | gründlich |
| Spanish | pormenorizado |
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 thoroughgoing come from?
From thorough + going (adjective).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).