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vast

[vast, vahst]
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adjective, vast·er, vast·est.
  1. of very great area or extent; immense: the vast reaches of outer space.
  2. of very great size or proportions; huge; enormous: vast piles of rubble left in the wake of the war.
  3. very great in number, quantity, amount, etc.: vast sums of money.
  4. very great in degree, intensity, etc.: an artisan of vast skill.
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noun
  1. Literary. an immense or boundless expanse or space.
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Origin of vast

First recorded in 1565–75, vast is from the Latin word vastus empty, immense
Related formsvast·ly, adverbvast·ness, nounsu·per·vast, adjectivesu·per·vast·ly, adverbsu·per·vast·ness, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for vast on Thesaurus.com
1. measureless, boundless, gigantic, colossal, stupendous.

Antonyms

1. small.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for vaster

Historical Examples

  • But only for a minute; other things of vaster importance held him.

    The Free Range

    Francis William Sullivan

  • The contribution on the whole is immense, vaster than we have yet any idea of.

  • Apparently it required a yet vaster effort to pronounce an explanation.

  • The universe is vaster than he or any of the Old Testament age could even imagine.

  • Some time or other to every man must come the consciousness of this vaster life.

British Dictionary definitions for vaster

vast

adjective
  1. unusually large in size, extent, degree, or number; immense
  2. (prenominal) (intensifier)in vast haste
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noun
  1. the vast mainly poetic immense or boundless space
  2. British dialect a very great amount or number
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Derived Formsvastity, nounvastly, adverbvastness, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Latin vastus deserted
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vaster

vast

adj.

1570s, from Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus "immense, extensive, huge," also "desolate, unoccupied, empty." The two meanings probably originally attached to two separate words, one with a long -a- one with a short -a-, that merged in early Latin (see waste). Very popular early 18c. as an intensifier. Related: Vastly; vastness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper