numerous
Americanadjective
-
very many; being or existing in great quantity.
numerous visits;
numerous fish.
-
consisting of or comprising a great number of units or individuals.
Recent audiences have been more numerous.
adjective
-
being many
-
consisting of many units or parts
a numerous collection
Synonym Usage
See many.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of numerous
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin numerōsus “consisting of a great number, numerous,” equivalent to numer(us) number + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Numerous means very large in quantity. You wouldn’t use numerous to describe how many feet you have (just two), but you could use it to describe the infinite number of shoes in your closet. The adjective numerous is related to the word number — which is no big surprise since it basically means "a large number of something." Use numerous to describe a copious or abundant amount that you can't give a specific number for. Numerous fans probably come out for the all-star game, for example. And numerous players wish they made the all-star team.
Vocabulary lists containing numerous
myPerspectives 8.1
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Much Ado: Synonyms for "Many"
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An Ember in the Ashes
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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.
The department deployed numerous fire engines, bulldozers, four helicopters, two air tankers and two “super scooper” aircrafts, Katon said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Lubin said he’s fielded numerous calls from clients who have asked for his take on Amendment 3.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The recent cyberattack follows numerous other recent agent-driven hacks, starting with an OpenAI agent hack of Hugging Face in July.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
"In this soup of quark-gluon plasma, there are numerous quarks and gluons passing by and colliding with each other," Lee explains.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
When the weather permitted, the crew kept busy catching penguins, which were numerous and noisy in the nearby rookery.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
