tremendous
Americanadjective
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extraordinarily great in size, amount, or intensity.
a tremendous ocean liner; tremendous talent.
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extraordinary in excellence.
a tremendous movie.
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dreadful or awful, as in character or effect; exciting fear; frightening; terrifying.
adjective
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vast; huge
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informal very exciting or unusual
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informal (intensifier)
a tremendous help
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archaic terrible or dreadful
Related Words
See huge.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tremendous
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin tremendus “dreadful, to be shaken by,” equivalent to trem(ere) “to shake, quake” + -endus gerund suffix
Explanation
Tremendous means extraordinarily large in size, extent, amount, power, or degree. It can also mean really marvelous and fantastic — or really awful and terrible. We often use tremendous if something is super wonderful. If someone comes into your office and tells you you just won a big contract and are getting a huge bonus, you might exclaim, “Tremendous!” Tremendous comes from the Latin for "trembling," and is connected with fear. Something tremendous can be big in a terrifying way, like the tremendous noise of an approaching hurricane, or a tremendous tidal wave about to crash on the shore.
Vocabulary lists containing tremendous
Bud, Not Buddy
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Living Large: Synonyms for "Big"
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The Launch of Sputnik 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.
“They’ve made tremendous progress. It’s night and day,” said Erik Ekdahl, the board’s chief deputy director.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
“The Zambian government is in a challenging position with China. China has tremendous political and financial influence in the country,” a spokesman for the committee told the Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
The new Section 2 was a tremendous success, leading to the election of scores of minority-preferred candidates in Congress and on the state and local level.
From Slate • Apr. 29, 2026
"Conservation efforts since the 1970s have prevented a tremendous collapse of tiger numbers," he said, saying that had "possibly placed the species on a trajectory of recovery and long-term survival."
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
The group kept quarreling until Loudwing let out a tremendous honk.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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.
