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

• hugeness noun
• hugely adverb
• 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

But that he is ending his career while pitching so well is a huge surprise.

From Los Angeles Times

One in seven people in the world use the app, which also doubles up as a huge marketplace for buyers and sellers across the world, from the US to Germany, Indonesia to the Philippines.

From BBC

"It doesn't sound like a huge change, but if you look at it in terms of the number of students across the UK, that is quite a significant movement," said spokesperson Tom Allingham.

From BBC

It costs hundreds of thousands to rebuild even a basic home — if you didn’t have a war chest, that’s huge, to find those resources.

From Los Angeles Times

The Federal Trade Commission, along with seven states, said the entertainment giant coordinated with brokers to buy concert tickets and ultimately sell those tickets at a "substantial" mark-up, profiting from huge resale fees.

From BBC

Related Words

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