gargantuan

adjective

gar·​gan·​tuan gär-ˈgan(t)-sh(ə-)wən 

variants often Gargantuan

: tremendous in size, volume, or degree : gigantic, colossal

gargantuan waterfalls

Did you know?

Gargantua is the name of a giant king in François Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua, the second part of a five-volume series about the giant and his son Pantagruel. All of the details of Gargantua's life befit a giant. He rides a colossal mare whose tail switches so violently that it fells the entire forest of Orleans. He has an enormous appetite, such that in one incident he inadvertently swallows five pilgrims while eating a salad. The scale of everything connected with Gargantua led to the adjective gargantuan, which since William Shakespeare's time has been used for anything of tremendous size or volume.

Synonyms of gargantuan

• gigantic
• huge
• enormous
• giant
• vast
• massive
• colossal
• tremendous
• mammoth
• immense
• monumental
• astronomical
• monstrous
• titanic

Examples of gargantuan in a Sentence

a creature of gargantuan proportions

people seem to be buying ever more gargantuan SUVs these days

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead of massive gasoline engines, today’s Hummer pickup and SUV use gargantuan battery packs and electric motors. — Matt Degen, AJC.com, 23 Oct. 2026

Building this life is the gargantuan task facing people looking to fix the role of technology in their lives. — Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia announced a $33 million take, adding to his already gargantuan war chest. — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 16 Oct. 2026

That same barbecue sauce is served with a gargantuan chicken cutlet sheathed in a crunchy golden crust of gluten-free panko crumbs and a profusion of sesame seeds. — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Gargantua

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

gargantuan

adjective

gar·​gan·​tuan gär-ˈganch-wən 

-ə-wən

: extraordinary in size, degree, or volume : gigantic

Etymology

from Gargantua, a giant with an enormous appetite in books by the French author François Rabelais