enormity
Americannoun
-
enormities
plural
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outrageous or heinous character; atrociousness.
the enormity of war crimes.
- Synonyms:
- heinousness, monstrousness
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something outrageous or heinous, as an offense.
The bombing of the defenseless population was an enormity beyond belief.
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greatness of size, scope, extent, or influence; immensity.
The enormity of such an act of generosity is staggering.
noun
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the quality or character of being outrageous; extreme wickedness
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an act of great wickedness; atrocity
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informal vastness of size or extent
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing enormity
Things Fall Apart
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Every Day
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"Why I Wrote The Crucible"
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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.
See Examples For:
“I am super positive on AI. I think it’s the best thing that has happened, and it probably will be the solution to the enormity of debt and spending that we have.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Doesn’t exactly measure up to the enormity of the classics, does it?
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
A closer look at the nine teams from the Asian continent which made the cut for the World Cup this year shows the enormity of the task that lies ahead of India.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 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
Nately was appalled and bewildered by the abominable old man’s inability to perceive the enormity of his offense.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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
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
Then, as its enormities went on getting more and more enormous in every line, the book seemed something titanic, gigantic, awe-inspiring.
From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2013
Fear at the enormities of the forbidden kept her desires delicate, wire and bone.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
