Gargantua

[ gahr-gan-choo-uh ]

/ gɑrˈgæn tʃu ə /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for Gargantua on Thesaurus.com

noun

an amiable giant and king, noted for his enormous capacity for food and drink, in Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel.

(italics) a satirical novel (1534) by Rabelais.

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Compare Pantagruel.

Words nearby Gargantua

Garfield Mountain, garfish, Garfunkel, garg., garganey, Gargantua, gargantuan, garget, gargle, gargoyle, gargoylism

How to use Gargantua in a sentence

All these initial chapters of “Monkey King” exhibit a rollicking exuberance, somewhat like Rabelais’s hyperbolic accounts of the giants Gargantua and Pantagruel.
The action-packed saga ‘Monkey King: Journey to the West’ gets a modern take|Michael Dirda|March 3, 2021|Washington Post
Rabelais wrote Gargantua here, in this city devoted to the most Pantagruelian of pleasures.
The Queen of the French Kitchen|Katie Baker|March 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After Honoré Daumier caricatured King Louis Philippe as Gargantua, he was sent to prison.
Victor Navasky’s 7 Favorite Political Cartoons|Victor S. Navasky|April 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Now the Gargantua of Dijon could once more lay hands on the broad lands of the fair Jacqueline.
The Life of Joan of Arc, Vol. 1 and 2 (of 2)|Anatole France

There was left only the monk to provide for; whom Gargantua would have made Abbot of Seuillé, but he refused it.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)--Continental Europe I|Various
The monk then requested Gargantua to institute his religious order contrary to all others.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)--Continental Europe I|Various
None did awake them, none did constrain them to eat, drink, nor do any other thing; for so had Gargantua established it.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)--Continental Europe I|Various
Gargantua can procure for you wealth, honors, and influence.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 5 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)

British Dictionary definitions for Gargantua

Gargantua

/ (ɡɑːˈɡæntjʊə) /

noun

a gigantic king noted for his great capacity for food and drink, in Rabelais' satire Gargantua and Pantagruel (1534)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012