infinite

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adjective

in·fi·nite ˈin-fə-nət

Synonyms of infinite next

: extending indefinitely : endless

infinite space

: immeasurably or inconceivably great or extensive : inexhaustible

infinite patience

: subject to no limitation or external determination

: extending beyond, lying beyond, or being greater than any preassigned finite value however large

infinite number of positive numbers

: extending to infinity

infinite plane surface

: characterized by an infinite number of elements or terms

an infinite set

an infinite series

infiniteness noun

infinite

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noun

: something that is infinite (as in extent, duration, or number)

Example Sentences

Adjective an infinite series of numbers She has infinite patience when she's dealing with children. There seemed to be an infinite number of possibilities. an infinite variety of choices

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The gaping void of the great beyond has provided seemingly infinite inspiration to composers over the centuries, from Haydn and Holst to Riley and Crumb. —

Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 12 May 2023 Fever Ray’s music is somehow both brooding and ecstatic — a sonic kaleidoscope that explodes with infinite variations of gray. —

Lindsay Zoladz, New York Times, 10 May 2023 Set in a dystopian America in the near future, the high-concept film follows five 16-year-old orphans who wake up to find themselves in a strange building with no walls, no ceiling, and no floor: nothing but endless flights of stairs leading in every direction, seemingly infinite. —

Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 27 Apr. 2023 And, of course, there’s the apparently infinite appeal of Grogu — still cute enough, after three years and countless cultural references, to melt our hearts anew, and to keep spurring this once-stoic bounty hunter toward new depths of feeling. —

Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2023 For tachyons, slowing down means increasing mass, and slowing down all the way to light speed would require an infinite amount of energy. —

Paul M. Sutter, Discover Magazine, 21 Feb. 2023 The wall’s surface is rendered with infinite care, its nails and holes painted in sharp relief. —

Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2023 Held inside the executive chef’s private garden at Stanly Ranch, each multi-course dining experience will honor the infinite connection between the land, ingredients, makers and farmers by focusing on a single, exceptional seasonal ingredient. —

Laura Parker, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2023 In a city defined by the way the sun illuminates the infinite spectrum of colors that our natural world has to offer, comfort can be found in the darkness. —

Clifford Prince King, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2023

Noun

Inspired by Les Nabis, a group of late 19th-century French artists, including Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard, whose paintings emphasize color and pattern over linear perspective, Titus’s work evokes an infinite, if at times subtle, sense of activity. —

New York Times, 28 Jan. 2021 How can a finite brain comprehend the infinite? —

Corey S Powell, Discover Magazine, 21 June 2013 Unlike chess, which was dominated by computer programs starting in the 1990s, Go was considered too complex to be mechanized due to the near-infinite number of possible moves on its 19 by 19 grid. —

Jake Kwon, CNN, 24 Mar. 2023 Minkowski space-time is flat, static and infinite. —

Sean Carroll, Quanta Magazine, 14 Nov. 2022 Its near-infinite scroll of products can veer into the surreal, at prices that seem impossibly low. —

John Herrman, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2021 Stare overhead, and the color seems to go on forever, conjuring notions of the infinite. —

Jessica Cherner, House Beautiful, 9 Jan. 2023 Because of the mind-bending way in which gravity alters the geometry of space in Einstein’s theory, there could conceivably be multiple universes, each infinite in extent. —

Alan Lightman, The Atlantic, 8 Feb. 2021 Go is an ancient Chinese board game that’s elegantly simple, yet wickedly difficult to master because of the near-infinite number of legal moves on the board’s 19-by-19 grid. —

Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 19 Dec. 2016 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'infinite.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English infynyt, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French infinit, borrowed from Latin infīnītus "indefinite, having no limit, endless," from in- in- entry 1 + fīnītus "specific, definite, having bounds or limits" — more at finite

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of infinite was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century