ENORMOUS

enormous, tremendous

(adjective) extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree; “an enormous boulder”; “enormous expenses”; “tremendous sweeping plains”; “a tremendous fact in human experience; that a whole civilization should be dependent on technology”- Walter Lippman; “a plane took off with a tremendous noise”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

enormous (comparative more enormous, superlative most enormous)

(obsolete) Deviating from the norm; unusual, extraordinary.

(obsolete) Exceedingly wicked; atrocious or outrageous.

Extremely large; greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc.

Synonyms

• massive

• huge

• gigantic

• humongous

• abnormal

• tremendous

• See also gigantic

Anagrams

• nemorous

Source: Wiktionary


E*nor"mous, a. Etym: [L. enormis enormous, out of rule; e out + norma rule: cf. F. Ă©norme. See Normal.]

1. Exceeding the usual rule, norm, or measure; out of due proportion; inordinate; abnormal. "Enormous bliss." Milton. "This enormous state." Shak. "The hoop's enormous size." Jenyns. Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait. Milton.

2. Exceedingly wicked; outrageous; atrocious; monstrous; as, an enormous crime. That detestable profession of a life so enormous. Bale.

Syn.

– Huge; vast; immoderate; immense; excessive; prodigious; monstrous.

– Enormous, Immense, Excessive. We speak of a thing as enormous when it overpasses its ordinary law of existence or far exceeds its proper average or standard, and becomes -- so to speak -- abnormal in its magnitude, degree, etc.; as, a man of enormous strength; a deed of enormous wickedness. Immense expresses somewhat indefinitely an immeasurable quantity or extent. Excessive is applied to what is beyond a just measure or amount, and is always used in an evil; as, enormous size; an enormous crime; an immense expenditure; the expanse of ocean is immense. "Excessive levity and indulgence are ultimately excessive rigor." V. Knox. "Complaisance becomes servitude when it is excessive." La Rochefoucauld (Trans).

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

5 February 2025

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Coffee Trivia

The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.

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