consisting of or forming a large mass; bulky and heavy.
massive columns.
large and heavy-looking.
a massive forehead.
large in scale, amount, or degree.
a massive breakdown in communications;
massive reductions in spending.
solid or substantial; great or imposing.
massive erudition.
Mineralogy. having no outward crystal form, although sometimes crystalline in internal structure.
(of objects) large in mass; bulky, heavy, and usually solid
impressive or imposing in quality, degree, or scope
massive grief
relatively intensive or large; considerable
a massive dose
pathol affecting a large area of the body
a massive cancer
geology
(of igneous rocks) having no stratification, cleavage, etc; homogeneous
(of sedimentary rocks) arranged in thick poorly defined strata
mineralogy without obvious crystalline structure
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English ( see mass, -ive); replacing Middle English massif, from Middle French
Massive means enormous. Obviously, Mt. Everest is massive, but a massive budget cut isn't necessarily big in physical mass; it's something that is imposing in scale or power. A massive budget cut can do a lot of damage. Unless someone is referring to your intellect, massive is not a word you want used in a description of your attributes. Massive is a nice one to trot out when huge, gigantic, and enormous sound too over-the-top. Politicians use it often. Massive could also be the best way to describe the wave you surfed on your Hawaiian vacation or the size of the fish you nearly caught on that trip with your friends.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fordhall Farm's youth volunteer and conservation lead Alison Fowler said she noticed a massive change in Reynolds.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The 220,000 people evacuated away from the massive wildfire in France's Gironde region will not be able to return home "until the fire has been brought under control", the local prefect said Sunday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
It found too much uncertainty in the AI segment, which requires massive capital spending with an unclear payoff.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Nvidia is in talks to provide a roughly $250 billion financial backstop for OpenAI to lease a massive data center project in Ohio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
A few blocks away, the water receded rapidly, building into a massive wave —a towering wall of water and wind and rain that swallowed buildings and palm trees and electric poles as it advanced.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
It’s deeper even than the Fordow site that the U.S. struck with precisely targeted 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Massive prints of the works created on the tablet featured in his 2012 exhibition "A Bigger Picture" at the Royal Academy of Arts, which won mixed reviews.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Massive data centers are also flooding the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main grid operator, with requests for power.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
Massive donations are starting to materialize, including a $6.25 billion pledge from Michael and Susan Dell.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
Massive tree trunks, though they looked like toothpicks from the air, slammed again and again into the bridge.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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.
