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
Examples of gargantuan in a Sentence
Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 8 Nov. 2025
At Tesla’s annual meeting on Thursday, shareholders voted in favor of giving CEO Musk a gargantuan, record-shattering pay package that could give him stock worth $1 trillion after several years.
—Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2025
Researchers pondered what the gargantuan black hole consumed to release such a powerful flare.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
After the gargantuan task of playing a six-hour and 39-minute baseball game, it was almost expected that the Dodgers would be somewhat hampered, but the Toronto Blue Jays not only had the same circumstances, but handily won Game 4.
—Gabe Smallson, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gargantuan
Cite this Entry
“Gargantuan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gargantuan. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gargantuan
adjective
from Gargantua, a giant with an enormous appetite in books by the French author François Rabelais
Share