What does thorough mean?
Word: Thorough
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Thorough means done carefully and completely, with nothing left out.
Synonyms: complete, careful
Antonyms: careless
How do you spell thorough?
Syllables: thor - ough
Tricky part: The ending is the trouble. In British English those last four letters make only a weak sound, like the a in sofa, so students cut them short. The word also looks very like through and though, so read it twice after you write it.
Watch out for: thorogh, thorrough
Memory tip: A thorough job leaves nothing out, and neither should you: keep all four letters of the ough ending, even though your ear catches only a soft uh.
Thorough in a sentence
Example 1: Meena gave her desk a thorough clean before the exam week began.
Example 2: The coach wants a thorough warm-up before every match.
Example 3: After a thorough search, we found the missing ball under the stage.
Fun Fact
Thorough and through began as one Old English word. You can still see the link in thoroughfare, a main road that runs right through a town.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Twins
Choose the option that fills both blanks correctly:
1. The head cook made a ___ check of the hostel kitchen. 2. The train passes ___ a long tunnel before it reaches the coast.
a) through/thorough
b) 'through' in both
c) thorough/through
d) 'thorough' in both
Show answer
c) thorough/through. A check that misses nothing takes the longer word; a train going in at one end of a tunnel and out at the other takes the shorter.
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
th_rough
a) u
b) e
c) a
d) o
Show answer
d) o. Say it aloud and you may want a u, but this is the one vowel that makes a real word here.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
hgoutorh 12345678
a) 17582436
b) 51376428
c) 15682347
d) 85124376
Show answer
b) 51376428. Work through the digits in order and the eight letters give the word for a careful, complete job.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with the word closest in meaning:
1. thorough 2. hasty 3. humble a. modest b. rushed c. detailed
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
c) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
c) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a. A humble person is modest, a hasty one is rushed, and a job with every point covered is detailed.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these shows a thorough way of cleaning a classroom?
a) sweeping under every desk and bench
b) picking up the largest scraps of paper
c) wiping only the teacher's table
d) dusting the one window by the door
Show answer
a) sweeping under every desk and bench
2. Which remark would a teacher most likely write on a thorough piece of homework?
a) You seem to have rushed this one.
b) Every part of the topic is covered.
c) Please try to start earlier next time.
d) Half of the answers are missing.
Show answer
b) Every part of the topic is covered.
