gargantuan

American  

[gahr-gan-choo-uhn] / gɑrˈgæn tʃu ən /

adjective

1. gigantic; enormous; colossal.

   a gargantuan task.

   Synonyms:

   elephantine, vast, immense, mammoth, huge

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gargantuan British  

/ ɡɑːˈɡæntjʊən /

adjective

1. (sometimes capital) huge; enormous

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Usage

What does gargantuan mean? Gargantuan means extraordinarily large or huge. Some things are more than huge—they’re gargantuan. The word is commonly applied to physical objects whose size makes you marvel with awe. Blue whales are gargantuan. Skyscrapers are gargantuan. The Grand Canyon is gargantuan. But it can also be applied to intangible things, as in With all the champagne and caviar that we ordered, the bill for dinner is going to be gargantuan. It is especially associated with things involving food, such as a gargantuan appetite or a gargantuan meal. Similar adjectives are gigantic, giant, colossal, and mammoth. A more formal synonym is massive. More informal synonyms are humongous and ginormous. Something might be considered gargantuan only in comparison to other similar things. For example, an unusually large grapefruit might be described as gargantuan even though it’s not all that big in general—it’s simply gargantuan compared to normal-sized grapefruits. Still, it’s usually used to describe things that are objectively huge, like redwood trees or the planet Jupiter. Gargantuan is sometimes casually used to mean extremely important or significant—much like the figurative use of big and huge. Sometimes, this is negative, as in gargantuan error or gargantuan failure. Example: You don’t realize how gargantuan the sun is until you see an image of a planet next to it for scale.

Etymology

Origin of gargantuan

First recorded in 1585–95; Gargantu(a) + -an

Explanation

Whether you're talking about your gargantuan appetite or a gargantuan building, use the word gargantuan to describe something so big that big just isn't, well, big enough to accurately describe it. The word gargantuan can refer to an object that's physically massive in size or it can describe something that you perceive, like a feeling or an expectation. For example, you might have a gargantuan misunderstanding with your best friend. The word gargantuan came into English in the 16th century from Gargantua, a character in a series of French novels by the author Francois Rabelais. The books followed the adventures of two giants who were father and son.

Example Sentences

Defeating the most gargantuan force that professional basketball has ever seen.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

GLP-1 weight-loss drugs have generally been seen as bad news for restaurant chains — but maybe not for Cheesecake Factory, thanks in part to its gargantuan menu.

From MarketWatch • May 14, 2026

He launched CNN in 1980 in a desperate bid to create a national 24-hour news channel before the broadcast titans ABC, NBC and CBS — and their gargantuan budgets — could beat him to it.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

Before boarding an escalator, one must pass a gargantuan wrap-around ad big enough to sport the film’s entire cast, including supporting players Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci.

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2026

A gargantuan thing, with striped tents, they are saying when he reaches the pub.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Related Words

• colossal
• enormous
• gigantic
• huge
• humongous
• immense
• mammoth
• massive
• monstrous
• monumental
• prodigious
• towering
• tremendous
• vast