enormity

American  

[ih-nawr-mi-tee] / ɪˈnɔr mɪ ti /

noun

enormities plural

1. outrageous or heinous character; atrociousness.

   the enormity of war crimes.

   Synonyms:

   heinousness, monstrousness

2. something outrageous or heinous, as an offense.

   The bombing of the defenseless population was an enormity beyond belief.

3. greatness of size, scope, extent, or influence; immensity.

   The enormity of such an act of generosity is staggering.

   Synonyms:

   vastness, hugeness

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enormity British  

/ ɪˈnɔːmɪtɪ /

noun

1. the quality or character of being outrageous; extreme wickedness

2. an act of great wickedness; atrocity

3. informal vastness of size or extent

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Usage

In modern English, it is common to talk about the enormity of something such as a task or a problem, but one should not talk about the enormity of an object or area: distribution is a problem because of India's enormous size (not India's enormity )

Commonly Confused

Enormity has been in frequent and continuous use in the sense “immensity” since the 18th century: The enormity of the task was overwhelming. Some hold that enormousness is the correct word in that sense and that enormity can only mean “outrageousness” or “atrociousness”: The enormity of his offenses appalled the public. Enormity occurs regularly in edited writing with the meanings both of great size and of outrageous or horrifying character, behavior, etc. Many people, however, continue to regard enormity in the sense of great size as nonstandard.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• enormities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of enormity

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English enormite, from Middle French, from Latin ēnormitās; see enorm, -ty ²

Explanation

An enormity is something extreme or huge, almost beyond comprehension. If you call having to paint the house all by yourself an enormity, your friends might take pity on you and show up with brushes and rollers. Something that's enormous can be good — a huge paycheck! — or bad, such as a tumor. But when it comes to enormity, some word lovers are up in arms. The word originally meant "a crime," so some people think it should only be used to describe wickedness or lack of morals. Others can't resist the word's similarity to enormous and apply it to anything vast, positive or negative.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

enormity enormities

Doesn’t exactly measure up to the enormity of the classics, does it?

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Nethy Bridge Community Council said: "People are not aware of the scale and enormity of this fire."

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Part of the problem was the sheer enormity of the initial outbreak, which quickly strained available stocks of tests, medications, and PPE, not to mention hospital beds and healthcare workers’ time.

From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2026

“I don’t know if the enormity of this has sunk in yet,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2026

“Now,” she said, sensing the enormity of the task facing her, “I had to find my family in all of this.”

From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy

In recent years, he has worked on an increasingly vast scale, as he searches for the most minimal means to convey nature’s immersive enormities: dark forests, distant escarpments, moonlight on water, wintry fields.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 29, 2022

A minor peccadillo alongside the enormities rightly laid at the door of your man.

From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2022

The Lincoln Center Festival once again offers a full plate of international oddities and enormities.

From The New Yorker ● May 15, 2015

Such musings worried lawyers and civil-liberties campaigners, who are accustomed to governments reacting to enormities with draconian new laws.

From Economist ● Aug. 28, 2014

Fear at the enormities of the forbidden kept her desires delicate, wire and bone.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

Related Words

• greatness
• immensity
• magnitude
• vastness