comprehensive
comprehensive Lexical Profile
comprehensive Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Complete and including all or nearly all elements, aspects, or details of something; wide-ranging in scope.
"The committee published a comprehensive report on the environmental impact of urban expansion."
Relating to a motor or property insurance policy that provides broad coverage against most risks, including theft, fire, and accidental damage.
"She decided to upgrade her third-party policy to comprehensive car insurance before driving abroad."
British Relating to a state secondary education system in which children of all academic abilities from a given area are educated in the same school.
"The town transitioned from selective grammar schools to a comprehensive education system in the 1970s."
• noun
British A state secondary school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude.
"Both of their children attended the local comprehensive before going on to university."
North American A set of wide-ranging examinations taken by a graduate or undergraduate student to test broad mastery of an academic major (usually used in the plural).
"Doctoral candidates must pass their written and oral comprehensives before advancing to dissertation research."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'comprehensive' (complete, thorough, covering all or nearly all elements) with 'comprehensible' (able to be understood or intelligible).
• Rhymes for comprehensive
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century from Late Latin comprehensivus, derived from Latin comprehendere ('to grasp together or include'), from com- ('together') and prehendere ('to seize').