massive

adjective mas·sive \ ˈma-siv \

Updated on: 19 May 2018

Definition of massive

1 : forming or consisting of a large mass:

a : bulky

massive furniture

b : weighty, heavy

massive walls

a massive volume

c : impressively large or ponderous

stars more massive than the sun

d : having no regular form but not necessarily lacking crystalline structure

massive sandstone

2 a : large, solid, or heavy in structure

massive jaw

b : large in scope or degree

the feeling of frustration, of being ineffectual, is massive
—David Halberstam

c (1) : large in comparison to what is typical

a massive dose of penicillin

(2) : being extensive and severe

massive hemorrhage

(3) : imposing in excellence or grandeur

massive simplicity

the most massive American dramatist of his time
—Newsweek

3 : having mass (see ²mass 1c)

a massive boson

—

massively

adverb

—

massiveness

noun

See massive defined for English-language learners

See massive defined for kids

Examples of massive in a Sentence

The fort had massive walls.
stars more massive than the sun
A massive effort will be required to clean up the debris.
You can find a massive amount of information on the Internet.
The stunt received massive publicity.
a massive collection of baseball cards

Recent Examples of massive from the Web

Why try and re-create the impossible when the downside is so massive?

— nathaniel friedman, GQ, "The Rockets Will Show Us What Kind of Team These Warriors Really Are," 15 May 2018
The social and online audiences were moved by Keaton's testimony and the outpouring of support for him was massive, with millions of views and thousands of shares.

— melissa farley, USA TODAY, "What's up with the bullied boy in that video?," 15 May 2018
Employers coordinate with rivals on massive job history databases that, among other things, pinpoint wages, giving management an information advantage to keep salaries down.

— david dayen, The New Republic, "How America Broke Its Economy," 8 May 2018
The ramifications are massive: The Bureau of Engineering had to assess the entirety of the city’s sidewalks, all 307 million square feet of them, to determine just how bad things have become.

— susan carpenter, Los Angeles Magazine, "Is There Any Hope for L.A.’s Terrible Streets and Sidewalks?," 7 May 2018
The city's convention center is massive, and the local array of housing options and service-industry heavyweights has led everything from the Super Bowl to WrestleMania to choose the Crescent City.

— nathan mattise, Ars Technica, "Four days at the wild, AI-filled Collision Conference—before it bails for Canada," 7 May 2018
The appropriation, part of a massive federal budget bill signed into law by President Donald Trump, was enough to touch off a political fracas stretching from Washington to Sacramento.

— ryan sabalow and dale kasler, sacbee, "This one stretch of river could decide the future of Shasta Dam | The Sacramento Bee," 7 May 2018
This will produce a massive database that will help scientists to better understand how genes, lifestyle and the environment factor into disease.

— gary robbins, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Back Story: Will altruism make us healthier?," 5 May 2018
But then, late on the final night of the 2014 legislative session, her reform bill’s language was weakened and inserted into a massive budget bill.

— jon lender, courant.com, "Jon Lender: Loophole Would Give Ex-Senator $110,000 Annual Pension After 3 Years As Judge," 28 Apr. 2018

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