capacious
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of capacious
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin capāc-, the stem of the adjective capax “able to take, take in, contain,” from capere, “to take, seize” + -ious ( def. )
Explanation
When something is really big and holds a lot it is capacious, like a capacious purse that is so big, people mistake it for a piece of luggage. Have you ever seen a Fourth of July hot dog eating contest? As you watch people wolf down 60 or more hot dogs in a matter of minutes, you must be thinking, "Where do they put all that food?" Well, it helps to have a capacious stomach. The suffix -ous adds "full of" to capacity; capacious is literally "full of capacity." If something is capacious, it has plenty of extra room.
Vocabulary lists containing capacious
100 Top "SAT" Words
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Living Large: Synonyms for "Big"
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The Importance of Being Earnest
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shoshana Bean’s win for her featured performance as a persevering single mom, is a testament to the musical’s capacious heart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
The main body of the show, mounted in capacious glass cabinets, is organized around his most notable books.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026
Theatergoers of today rarely if ever encounter the workings of a mind so capacious in its interests and abilities as his.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
New and more capacious understandings of queerness, and growing numbers of queer and trans people, are just part of this change.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2025
And she pulled a lace kerchief from her capacious bosom, and dabbed at her daughter's cheeks, which had suddenly become covered with tears.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
