huge

[hyooj, yooj]

adjective

huger, hugest 

1. extraordinarily large in bulk, quantity, or extent.

   a huge ship; a huge portion of ice cream.

   Synonyms: bulky, stupendous, vast, colossal, gigantic, mammoth
   Antonyms: diminutive, tiny, small

2. of unbounded extent, scope, or character; limitless.

   the huge genius of Mozart.

3. Slang.,  very important, successful, popular, etc..

   The show is huge in Britain.

huge

/ hjuːdʒ /

adjective

1. Archaic form: hugeous. extremely large in size, amount, or scope

Pronunciation Note

See human.

Other Word Forms

• hugely adverb
• hugeness noun
• overhuge adjective
• overhugely adverb
• overhugeness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of huge¹

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English huge, hoge from Old French ahuge, ahoge “enormous,” equivalent to a- a- ⁵ + hoge “height” from Germanic; compare Old Norse haugr “hill” ( high )

Word History and Origins

Origin of huge¹

C13: from Old French ahuge, of uncertain origin

Synonym Study

Huge, enormous, immense, tremendous imply great magnitude. Huge implies massiveness, bulkiness, or even shapelessness: a huge mass of rock; a huge collection of antiques. Enormous, literally out of the norm, applies to what exceeds in extent, magnitude, or degree, a norm or standard: an enormous iceberg. Tremendous, in informal use, applies to anything so huge as to be astonishing or to inspire awe: a tremendous amount of equipment. Immense, literally not measurable, is particularly applicable to what is exceedingly great, without reference to a standard: immense buildings. All are used figuratively: a huge success; enormous curiosity; tremendous effort; immense joy.

Example Sentences

Through the windows, huge grey clouds rose in the middle distance.

From BBC

That said, there is a huge difference between a press staffer getting his jollies on social media and the assistant attorney general of the United States playing politics with personal calamity.

From Los Angeles Times

Arattai isn't the first Indian app to dream of replacing huge international rivals.

From BBC

"There are countries that are huge in terms of football and fanbases and they don't accept LGBTQ+ people. Those are the countries that tend to target me."

From BBC

It's hard to overplay what a huge blow it would be to Australia if Pat Cummins misses some or all of the Ashes, similar to England being without Ben Stokes.

From BBC

Related Words

• colossal 
• enormous 
• extensive 
• gargantuan 
• giant 
• gigantic 
• great 
• humongous 
• immense 
• magnificent 
• mammoth 
• massive 
• monstrous 
• monumental 
• towering 
• tremendous 
• vast