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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
Examples of gargantuan in a Sentence
Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2026
Since last year, Courtois has been working on his new home, which will have a gargantuan surface area of 64,000 square feet, according to the newspaper ABC—keep in mind, a standard adult soccer field typically measures between 57,600 and 81,000 square feet.
—Carlota Aladro, Architectural Digest, 23 Feb. 2026
Wordlessly, Becket goes to her, gets in the car and the two are driven back to the gargantuan Redfellow estate on Long Island, with tears in his eyes.
—Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 21 Feb. 2026
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan The connective tissue between Michigan’s gargantuan frontcourt and skilled backcourt, Lendeborg is the versatile destroyer that gives Dusty May tremendous lineup flexibility.
—Jim Root, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Gargantuan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gargantuan. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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gargantuan
adjective
from Gargantua, a giant with an enormous appetite in books by the French author François Rabelais
