intensive

[in-ten-siv]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by intensity.

   intensive questioning.

2. tending to intensify; intensifying.

3. Medicine/Medical.

   1. increasing in intensity or degree.

   2. instituting treatment to the limit of safety.

4. noting or pertaining to a system of agriculture involving the cultivation of limited areas, and relying on the maximum use of labor and expenditures to raise the crop yield per unit area (extensive ).

5. requiring or having a high concentration of a specified quality or element (used in combination).

   Coal mining is a labor-intensive industry.

6. Grammar.,  indicating increased emphasis or force. Certainly is an intensive adverb. Myself in I did it myself is an intensive pronoun.

noun

1. something that intensifies.

2. Grammar.,  an intensive element or formation, as -self in himself, or Latin -tō in iac-tō, “I hurl” from iacō, “I throw.”

intensive

/ ɪnˈtɛnsɪv /

adjective

1. involving the maximum use of land, time, or some other resource

   intensive agriculture

   an intensive course

2. (usually in combination) using one factor of production proportionately more than others, as specified

   capital-intensive

   labour-intensive

3. agriculture involving or farmed using large amounts of capital or labour to increase production from a particular area Compare extensive

4. denoting or relating to a grammatical intensifier

5. denoting or belonging to a class of pronouns used to emphasize a noun or personal pronoun, such as himself in the sentence John himself did it. In English, intensive pronouns are identical in form with reflexive pronouns

6. of or relating to intension

7. physics of or relating to a local property, measurement, etc, that is independent of the extent of the system Compare extensive

noun

1. an intensifier or intensive pronoun or grammatical construction

Other Word Forms

• intensively adverb
• intensiveness noun
• unintensive adjective
• unintensively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of intensive¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from the Medieval Latin word intēnsīvus. See intense, -ive

Example Sentences

The new images reviewed by BBC Verify show that intensive bombardments and controlled explosions have levelled several neighbourhoods over the past four weeks.

From BBC

The Smile cancelled some concerts in July 2024 when Jonny, also an Oscar-nominated film composer, became seriously ill from an infection that needed emergency hospital treatment, some of it in intensive care.

From BBC

The couple, and their new daughter, were first cared for at Burning Man’s medical tent, until a helicopter arrived to take the child to a neonatal intensive care unit in nearby Reno.

From Los Angeles Times

He was not offered pain relief, basic examinations were not carried out, and he was transferred to an acute admissions unit instead of intensive care, where he died hours later.

From BBC

Historical scholarship on the draft riots is intensive and disputatious; my only concluding point is that they seem to contain all the most painful and contradictory lessons of our nation’s history in compressed form.

From Salon

Related Words

• accelerated www.thesaurus.com
• all-out 
• comprehensive 
• demanding 
• in-depth 
• thorough