immense

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adjective im·mense \i-ˈmen(t)s\

Definition of immense

1 : marked by greatness especially in size or degree; especially : transcending ordinary means of measurement the immense universe
2 : supremely good

immensely

adverb

immenseness

noun

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Examples of immense in a Sentence

He inherited an immense fortune.
She is an artist of immense talent.

Recent Examples of immense from the Web

The $13.7 billion Whole Foods deal puts immense pressure on supermarkets, but also discounters such as Walmart, drug stores such as Walgreens and dollar stores such as Dollar General.

— alexander coolidge, Cincinnati.com, "How Kroger can combat Amazon's onslaught", 4 July 2017
Jonah Hill's immense weight loss has (for better or worse) become one of the biggest celebrity transformation stories of 2017.

— jake woolf, GQ, "Jonah Hill's Shirt Is What Every Guy Needs Right Now", 26 June 2017
Carmel’s annual Art of Wine festival certainly puts on display the immense work and craft that goes into creating a delicious glass of the good stuff.

— justin jacobs, Indianapolis Star, "Tater tots, tacos top Indianapolis food events this July", 20 June 2017
The goals to meet are immense, Swarup said, including building up the large-scale industrial capability to grow enough algae.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Synthetic Genomics and ExxonMobil double biofuel yield from algae", 19 June 2017
Internet companies are under immense pressure to do something about hate speech on their platforms.

— valentina palladino, Ars Technica, "Google now actively works against extremist YouTube videos", 19 June 2017
Now the host of ESPN's daily basketball show The Jump, Nichols is focusing her immense talents on elevating NBA dialogue.

— molly knight, Marie Claire, "Rachel Nichols Is One of the Sports World's Few Female Voices—but That's Not Why She's a Game-Changer", 5 June 2017
Enraged over the massive loss of life when an immense explosion erupted in the heart of the capital’s supposedly secure diplomatic quarter, people called for the execution of President Ashfraf Ghani, even burning him in effigy.

— Washington Post, "Thousands demonstrate against Afghan government after Kabul blast", 2 June 2017
Jacobs emphasizes, above all else, immense gratitude for the performers who have come before her.

— caroline glazer, Smithsonian, "The View From the Big Top", 2 June 2017

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

Did You Know?

Just how big is something if it is immense? Huge? Colossal? Humongous? Ginormous? Or merely enormous? "Immense" is often used as a synonym of all of the above and, as such, can simply function as yet another way for English speakers to say "really, really, really big." "Immense" is also used, however, in a sense which goes beyond merely really, really, really big to describe something that is so great in size or degree that it transcends ordinary means of measurement. This sense harks back to the original sense of "immense" as something which is so tremendously big that it has not or cannot be measured. This sense reflects the word's roots in the Latin immensus, from "in-" ("un-") and "mensus," the past participle of "metiri" ("to measure").

Origin and Etymology of immense

Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin immensus immeasurable, from in- + mensus, past participle of metiri to measure — more at measure

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First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of immense

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