tremendous

adjective

tre·​men·​dous tri-ˈmen-dəs How to pronounce tremendous (audio)
1
a
: notable by reason of extreme size, power, greatness, or excellence
tremendous problems
a writer of tremendous talent
often used as a generalized term of approval
had a tremendous time
b
: unusually large : huge
a tremendous number of people
2
: being such as may excite trembling or arouse dread, awe, or terror
tremendousness noun
Choose the Right Synonym for tremendous

monstrous, prodigious, tremendous, stupendous mean extremely impressive.

monstrous implies a departure from the normal (as in size, form, or character) and often carries suggestions of deformity, ugliness, or fabulousness.

the monstrous waste of the project

prodigious suggests a marvelousness exceeding belief, usually in something felt as going far beyond a previous maximum (as of goodness, greatness, intensity, or size).

made a prodigious effort and rolled the stone aside

tremendous may imply a power to terrify or inspire awe.

the tremendous roar of the cataract

stupendous implies a power to stun or astound, usually because of size, numbers, complexity, or greatness beyond description.

a stupendous volcanic eruption

Example Sentences

He has a tremendous amount of energy. The engine's power is tremendous. She is a writer of tremendous talent. We had a tremendous time.
Recent Examples on the Web Their style and their execution was was tremendous, fast, aggressive, connected and just absolutely deadly special teams and blew them out. Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 21 Apr. 2023 To have a minority involved would have been tremendous. Matt Kawahara, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Apr. 2023 Property destruction, in turn, demands tremendous risks for those involved and promises very little in return. Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 5 Apr. 2023 As a result, the Mekong Delta, which naturally would receive much of the sediment, has suffered tremendous river erosion, with thousands of homes being swept away. Stefan Lovgren, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2023 Within an hour of the news breaking of the 27-year-old K-Pop star’s tremendous new feat, countless messages of support flooded in on social media — to the point where iterations of Jimin’s name occupied five of the top 30 trending topics on Twitter at the time of publication. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 3 Apr. 2023 But the level of consistency the program has had is tremendous. Jon Gold, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Apr. 2023 Bella Bixby made a tremendous save in the 67th minute for Portland, stopping a powerful shot by Hailie Mace to Bixby’s right. oregonlive, 1 Apr. 2023 Just a tremendous talent, man. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2023 See More

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

Latin tremendus, from gerundive of tremere

First Known Use

1632, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of tremendous was in 1632

Dictionary Entries Near tremendous

Cite this Entry

“Tremendous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tremendous. Accessed 30 May. 2023.

Kids Definition

tremendous

adjective
tre·​men·​dous tri-ˈmen-dəs How to pronounce tremendous (audio)
1
: causing dread, awe, or terror : dreadful
2
: astonishing because of great size, excellence, or power
tremendous problems
a writer of tremendous talent
tremendously adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on tremendous

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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