massive

adjective

mas·​sive ˈma-siv How to pronounce massive (audio)
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 massiveDavid 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 timeNewsweek
3
: having mass (see mass entry 2 sense 1c)
a massive boson
massively adverb
massiveness noun

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 on the Web The event in Greenland's Dickson Fjord registered on sensitive seismographs from the Arctic to Antarctica for nine days following a massive landslide that sent more than 32 million cubic yards of rock and ice crashing into the fjord and triggering a tsunami with a wave height that reached 650 feet. Stephen J. Beard, USA TODAY, 25 Sep. 2024 The addition of those four tunes played a huge role in that massive increase in sales, but there were other reasons why fans revisited the set. Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 24 Sep. 2024 The country has been rocked by multiple crises in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a massive fertilizer explosion in the Port of Beirut in 2020 that killed more than 200 people and left roughly 250,000 others homeless. Jacob Knutson, Axios, 24 Sep. 2024 With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and other frontier technologies, the need for high-quality digital infrastructure will be more critical than ever to handle the massive data flows, real-time analytics, and seamless connectivity that AI technologies depend on. Klaus Schwab, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for massive 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'massive.' 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

Middle English massiffe, from Anglo-French mascif, alteration of massiz, from Vulgar Latin *massicius, from Latin massa mass

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of massive was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near massive

Cite this Entry

“Massive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/massive. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

massive

adjective
mas·​sive ˈmas-iv How to pronounce massive (audio)
1
: weighty sense 1, heavy
massive walls
2
a
: large, solid, or heavy in structure
a massive jaw
b
: large in extent or degree
a massive effort
3
: having mass
massively adverb
massiveness noun

Medical Definition

massive

adjective
mas·​sive ˈmas-iv How to pronounce massive (audio)
1
: large in comparison to what is typical
used especially of medical dosage or of an infectious agent
a massive dose of penicillin
2
: being extensive and severe
used of a pathologic condition
a massive hemorrhage
a massive collapse of a lung

More from Merriam-Webster on massive

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