- 1covering a large amount of space She opened her arms wide in an expansive gesture of welcome. landscape with expansive skies He waved an expansive arm (= in an expansive movement).
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- 2covering a large subject area, rather than trying to be exact and use few words We need to look at a more expansive definition of the term. The piece is written in his usual expansive style.
- 3friendly and willing to talk a lot She was clearly relaxed and in an expansive mood.
- 4(especially of a period of time) encouraging economic expansion In the expansive 1990s bright graduates could advance rapidly.
adverb He waved his arms expansively.
noun [uncountable]See expansive in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: expansive