extensive

[ ik-sten-siv ]
See synonyms for extensive on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of great extent; wide, broad: an extensive area.

  2. covering or extending over a great area: extensive travels.

  1. far-reaching; comprehensive; thorough: extensive knowledge.

  2. lengthy: an extensive journey.

  3. great in amount, number, or degree: an extensive fortune; extensive political influence.

  4. of or having extension: Space is extensive, time durational.

  5. noting or pertaining to a system of agriculture involving the use or cultivation of large areas of land with a minimum of labor and expense (opposed to intensive).

Origin of extensive

1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin extēnsīvus, equivalent to Latin extēns(us) (past participle of extendere “to stretch out”) + -īvus adjective suffix; see extend, -ive

Other words for extensive

Opposites for extensive

Other words from extensive

  • ex·ten·sive·ly, adverb
  • ex·ten·sive·ness, ex·ten·siv·i·ty [ek-sten-siv-i-tee, ik-], /ˌɛk stɛnˈsɪv ɪ ti, ɪk-/, noun
  • non·ex·ten·sive, adjective
  • non·ex·ten·sive·ness, noun
  • pre·ex·ten·sive, adjective

Words Nearby extensive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use extensive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for extensive

extensive

/ (ɪkˈstɛnsɪv) /


adjective
  1. having a large extent, area, scope, degree, etc; vast: extensive deserts; an extensive inheritance

  2. widespread: extensive coverage in the press

  1. agriculture involving or farmed with minimum expenditure of capital or labour, esp depending on a large area of land: Compare intensive (def. 3)

  2. physics of or relating to a property, measurement, etc, of a macroscopic system that is proportional to the size of the system: heat is an extensive property Compare intensive (def. 7)

  3. logic

    • of or relating to logical extension

    • (of a definition) in terms of the objects to which the term applies rather than its meaning

Derived forms of extensive

  • extensively, adverb
  • extensiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012