adjective
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unusually large; huge; vast
-
without limits; immeasurable
-
informal very good; excellent
Related Words
See huge.
Other Word Forms
- immensely adverb
- immenseness noun
Etymology
Origin of immense
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin immēnsus “huge, boundless, immeasurable,” equivalent to im- “un-” + mēnsus, past participle of mētīrī “to measure”; see im- 2
Explanation
Immense means very large in size, amount, or degree. You might describe the ocean as immense, or your homework load, or the slice of cake your brother took, leaving you a tiny sliver. This word has an immense number of near synonyms: huge, great, enormous, vast, gigantic, colossal, mammoth, copious, tremendous are a few of the more common ones. If you're having immense difficulty deciding which word to use, just plain "very big" might do.
Vocabulary lists containing immense
List 4
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"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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myPerspectives 8.1
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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.
"From this tragedy, an immense irony is unfolding. Those who've fought to keep the world hooked on fossil fuels are inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom," he said, without naming countries or companies.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
"We meet in times of great uncertainty, in times of conflict from Europe to the Middle East which pose immense challenges," he told the chamber, filled with US lawmakers.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
Other immense sculptures of pages show redacted sections of the document in massive black bars, magnifying the hostility of government censorship as massive obstacles constructed by many small players and devices.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026
Even so, these changes unfold over immense timescales.
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026
This was the thought I returned to a year or so later, when the drumbeat truly got loud, when the pressure on both of us felt immense.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
