enormous
Americanadjective
-
greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc.; huge; immense.
an enormous fortune.
- Synonyms:
- stupendous, prodigious, mammoth, gigantic, colossal, vast
-
outrageous or atrocious.
enormous wickedness; enormous crimes.
adjective
-
unusually large in size, extent, or degree; immense; vast
-
archaic extremely wicked; heinous
Synonym Usage
See huge.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of enormous
Explanation
When something is very, very, VERY big, it can be called enormous. “Good heavens, that pimple on your cheek is absolutely enormous; it covers half your face!” The word enormous contains within it, if you look closely, the root norm, as in normal. So what you’re saying when you call something enormous is that it’s beyond what is normal; you’re trying to convey a sense of exaggerated difference. You may also have heard the word ginormous, which people try to use as enormous with a dramatic flair. But, trust us: ginormous is not a good word; it’s just a blend of two words — gigantic and enormous.
Vocabulary lists containing enormous
Chains
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Living Large: Synonyms for "Big"
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 8
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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.
"It is the result of an enormous amount of work by people who devoted a large part of their lives to field observations," said Kervyn.
From Barron's • Jul. 3, 2026
“It’s enormous from our tribal perspective that we are basically obtaining the land that our people once lived on before colonization.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2026
These high velocity impacts shattered enormous volumes of rock beneath the surface while vaporizing material and scattering molten rock across the landscape.
From Science Daily • Jul. 2, 2026
And even though the Americans survived with only 10 players to beat Bosnia 2-0, the implications going forward are enormous: Balogun, the team’s leading scorer, is now suspended for the team’s round-of-16 clash against Belgium.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026
He could juggle five juggling clubs, and even though he had enormous hands, big enough to hold all five clubs at once, he was gentle.
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
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.
