Definition of ENORMOUS

Examples of enormous in a Sentence

They live in an enormous house.
We chose not to undertake the project because of the enormous costs involved.

Recent Examples of enormous from the Web

This glacier is 45km from the forest, so the flood in question must have been enormous.

— The Economist, "VolcanologyEvents in Iceland explain years of famine in Europe’s Dark Ages," 18 July 2017
Given this enormous wealth and success, one has no choice but to wonder whether Dimon’s cri de coeur on behalf of the average American is fully credible.

— vanityfair.com, "The Real Reason Jamie Dimon Went Berserk About America’s “Stupid Shit”," 17 July 2017
Particle physicists strive to understand the inner workings of the universe by smashing subatomic particles together with enormous energies to blast out exotic new bits of matter.

— science news staff, Science | AAAS, "AI is changing how we do science. Get a glimpse," 5 July 2017
The technology companies wield enormous power, perhaps more than governments do, in shaping the scope of digital age privacy rights, Daskal said.

— mark sherman, The Seattle Times, "Microsoft, Trump administration clash over email searches," 2 July 2017
Dean’s innovations included enormous, sac-like pods from which the musicians could dramatically emerge.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Prog Rock: The Musical Genre That Won’t Die," 29 June 2017
But it's done with an enormous amount of respect and thoughtfulness for that community.

— jonah flicker, Esquire, "Marcus Samuelsson on How 'Claiming' a Culture's Food Is Not the Same as Loving It," 28 June 2017
The 1945 ruling made an enormous impact on Hollywood, giving actors the freedom to pick roles and shape their own careers.

— marlisse a. cepeda, Country Living, "The Last Surviving "Gone With the Wind" Cast Member Just Turned 101," 26 June 2017
That appealed to investors who put in enormous amounts of money to create a $50 billion valuation, but those initial investors should never have been considered the only audience.

— by mike valdes-fauli, miamiherald, "Five ways a company can avoid a crisis like Uber’s," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'enormous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of enormous

Latin enormis, from e, ex out of + norma rule

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1531

See Words from the same year

enormous Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of enormous

enormous, immense, huge, vast, gigantic, colossal, mammoth mean exceedingly large. enormous and immense both suggest an exceeding of all ordinary bounds in size or amount or degree, but enormous often adds an implication of abnormality or monstrousness. an enormous expense an immense shopping mall huge commonly suggests an immensity of bulk or amount. incurred a huge debt vast usually suggests immensity of extent. the vast Russian steppes gigantic stresses the contrast with the size of others of the same kind. a gigantic sports stadium colossal applies especially to a human creation of stupendous or incredible dimensions. a colossal statue of Lincoln mammoth suggests both hugeness and ponderousness of bulk. a mammoth boulder