adjective
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unusually large; huge; vast
-
without limits; immeasurable
-
informal very good; excellent
Synonym Usage
See huge.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of immense
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin immēnsus “huge, boundless, immeasurable,” equivalent to im- “un-” + mēnsus, past participle of mētīrī “to measure”; see im- 2
Explanation
Immense means very large in size, amount, or degree. You might describe the ocean as immense, or your homework load, or the slice of cake your brother took, leaving you a tiny sliver. This word has an immense number of near synonyms: huge, great, enormous, vast, gigantic, colossal, mammoth, copious, tremendous are a few of the more common ones. If you're having immense difficulty deciding which word to use, just plain "very big" might do.
Vocabulary lists containing immense
List 4
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"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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myPerspectives 8.1
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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.
By turning the nation’s focus inland and westward, he writes, “the Purchase transformed the United States from a coastal confederation into a continental power of immense potential.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The business opportunity surrounding humanoids is expected to be immense, with some experts estimating a multitrillion-dollar market by 2050.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
"This is a moment of immense pride for all of us at Dr. Reddy's," said Deepak Sapra, CEO of Pharmaceutical Services and API at Dr. Reddy's, in a statement.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
"I feel immense pain and immense sadness for the victims and their relatives... I cannot let this pain paralyse me though. We have to find solutions to this problem."
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
For what they now saw, swirling and twisting directly over their heads, was an immense black cloud, a terrible, dangerous, thundery-looking thing that began to rumble and roar even as they were staring at it.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
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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.
