vastness

American  

[vast-nis] / ˈvæst nɪs /

noun

1. the fact or quality of being very great in extent, size, degree, amount, etc.; immensity or hugeness.

   Given the vastness of the country, improved infrastructure will have to precede any economic development.

   I was awestruck by the sheer vastness of her knowledge on the subject.

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Other Word Forms

• supervastness noun

Etymology

Origin of vastness

First recorded in 1600–10; vast ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

After the comment made headlines, Obama sought to clarify he thinks it's statistically likely life exists beyond Earth, given the vastness of the universe.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

The ever-growing vastness of human knowledge is no longer stored in libraries, but on hard drives that struggle to last decades, let alone millennia.

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

“I was pretty naive to the bigness, the vastness of it,” Shiffrin said of her first Games in 2014 on a recent episode of her podcast.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Really, I think, the vastness of today and what we are looking at as far as the future for all of us is just so twisted in turmoil.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025

He saw thousands of men, ten, twenty thousand, perhaps more, spread across the vastness of the beach.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Related Words

• expanse