intensive
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intensive
- /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/ US, UK
Rhymes with -ɛnsɪv
Where it comes from
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English intensive (“fervent, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intensif, intensive (modern French intensif) + Middle English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of, relating to’ forming adjectives), equivalent to intense + -ive. Intensif is from Medieval Latin intēnsīvus, from Latin intēnsus (“attentive; eager, intent; intensive”) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘doing; related to doing’); and intēnsus is the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘to, towards’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch, stretch out”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)). Doublet of intend.
The noun is derived from the adjective.
adjective more intensive · most intensive
-
Done with intensity or to a great degree; thorough.
Secondly, I continue to base my concepts on intensive study of a limited suite of collections, rather than superficial study of every packet that comes to hand.
Opposite: unintensive, nonintensive, superficial
- Being made more intense.
-
Of agriculture: increasing the productivity of an area of land.
Opposite: extensive
-
Of a word: serving to give emphasis or force.
an intensive verb or preposition
Similar: intensative · Opposite: downtoning
- Involving much activity in a short period of time; highly concentrated. I took a three-day intensive course in finance.
- Of or pertaining to innate or internal intensity or strength rather than outward extent.
- Chiefly suffixed to a noun: using something with intensity; requiring a great amount of something; demanding. This job is difficult because it is so labour-intensive.
- Chiefly in intensive care: of care or treatment: involving a great degree of life support, monitoring, and other forms of effort in order to manage life-threatening conditions. She was moved to the intensive-care unit of the hospital.
- That can be intensified; allowing an increase of degree. As his [God's] Perfection is infinitely greater than the perfection of a Man, ſo it is infinitely greater than the perfection of an Angel; and vvere it not infinitely greater than the perfection of an Angel, it could not be infinitely greater than the perfection of a Man, becauſe the intenſive diſta
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Synonym of intense (“extreme or very high or strong in degree; of feelings, thoughts, etc.: strongly focused”).
Faſcination is the povver and act of Imagination, intenſiue vpon other bodies, than the bodie of the Imaginant; […]
Similar: intense
noun intensives
- A thing which makes something more intense; specifically (linguistics), a form of a word with a more forceful or stronger sense than the root on which it is built.
- A course taught intensively, involving much activity in a short period of time. Beginning in 2014, ETSI [the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative] embarked on a six-year implementation phase at three monastic universities (Sera, Ganden, and Drepung). This program is composed of summer intensives taught by faculty from Emory and other institutions, year-round study led by on-site inst
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: intensifier, intense, intensity, drastic, robust, strong, intensifying, strenuous, tough, intensify, tight, vigorous, enormous, hard, energetic, strict
Translations
Every language
adj using something with intensity; requiring a great amount of something — see also demanding
| Español | intensivo |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 集約 /集约 jíyuē, 強烈 /强烈 qiángliè |
| Français | intensif |
| Deutsch | intensiv |
| Italiano | impegnativo |
| Русский | интенси́вный intensívnyj |
adj done with intensity or to a great degree — see also thorough
| Español | intensivo |
|---|---|
| Français | intensif, intensifs, intensive, intensives |
| Italiano | intensivo |
| العربية | مُكَثَّف mukaṯṯaf, مُكَثَّفَة mukaṯṯafa |
adj of a word: serving to give emphasis or force
| Ελληνικά | επιτατικός epitatikós |
|---|
adj involving much activity in a short period of time — see also concentrated
| Español | intensivo |
|---|---|
| Italiano | concentrato |
| العربية | مُكَثَّف mukaṯṯaf, مُكَثَّفَة mukaṯṯafa |
Talk about this word "intensive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/intensive. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. intensive. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/intensive "intensive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/intensive.Cite this
@misc{intensive_2026,
title = {intensive},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/intensive},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
