huge
Americanadjective
-
huger,
comparative
-
hugest
superlative
-
extraordinarily large in bulk, quantity, or extent.
a huge ship; a huge portion of ice cream.
- Antonyms:
- diminutive, tiny, small
-
of unbounded extent, scope, or character; limitless.
the huge genius of Mozart.
-
Slang. very important, successful, popular, etc..
The show is huge in Britain.
adjective
Pronunciation
See human.
Synonym Usage
Huge, enormous, immense, tremendous imply great magnitude. Huge implies massiveness, bulkiness, or even shapelessness: a huge mass of rock; a huge collection of antiques. Enormous, literally out of the norm, applies to what exceeds in extent, magnitude, or degree, a norm or standard: an enormous iceberg. Tremendous, in informal use, applies to anything so huge as to be astonishing or to inspire awe: a tremendous amount of equipment. Immense, literally not measurable, is particularly applicable to what is exceedingly great, without reference to a standard: immense buildings. All are used figuratively: a huge success; enormous curiosity; tremendous effort; immense joy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of huge
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English huge, hoge from Old French ahuge, ahoge “enormous,” equivalent to a- a- 5 + hoge “height” from Germanic; compare Old Norse haugr “hill” ( see high)
Explanation
Use the adjective huge to describe something that’s really, really big. When your friend throws a huge birthday party and invites everyone she knows, you can finally talk to that cute neighbor you have a huge crush on. Huge is a relative word — there’s no specific degree or size something has to reach before you can say it’s huge. You can eat a huge piece of cake, or go see huge elephants in the zoo. Cake and elephants are both concrete things, but huge can also describe things that aren’t actual objects. For example, you can make a huge difference by volunteering at an animal shelter.
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:
Things have been especially grim on the 51st Street overpass, where tents, makeshift structures and huge mounds of trash lined the sidewalks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
In Vietnam, the company is making huge gains by selling on social media, a playbook it used successfully in China, and has doubled its e-commerce business for Huggies so far this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
She called this “a huge public health disservice.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
"I think that will cause a huge amount of alarm and frustration and anger."
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
When she became queen, she'd give him a huge reward.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
But "it could have been huger" if not for tech industry interference.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2023
But the huger dimensions work against the gains in fuel efficiency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
Two decades into the 21st century, capitalism is huge and getting huger.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2018
In an even huger coincidence, Reuters now reports that the EPA has given CVR Energy an exemption from having to buy the credits:
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2018
He leapt into the sky in the form of an eagle even huger and mightier than any he had been before, and he began to beat his wings and flew, faster and ever-faster, toward Asgard.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Yes, and one of his hugest departures was making Robert Downey Jr. play four characters – five by the end.
From Salon ● May 27, 2024
She is one of the hugest gamers that I know to this day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
Oh my God, I’m like the hugest, hugest!
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
“Her U.S. mint recognition, that was one of the hugest, I mean, literally one of the hugest achievements of any Hawaiian, period,” Ms. Kanaka‘ole’s grandson Kuha‘o Zane said.
From New York Times ● May 13, 2023
There the hugest Orcs were mustered, and the wild men of the Dunland fells.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
