Synonym Chooser

How is the word tremendous different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of tremendous are monstrous, prodigious, and stupendous. While all these words mean "extremely impressive," tremendous may imply a power to terrify or inspire awe.

the tremendous roar of the cataract

When might monstrous be a better fit than tremendous?

In some situations, the words monstrous and tremendous are roughly equivalent. However, 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

When is it sensible to use prodigious instead of tremendous?

The synonyms prodigious and tremendous are sometimes interchangeable, but 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

When is stupendous a more appropriate choice than tremendous?

Although the words stupendous and tremendous have much in common, stupendous implies a power to stun or astound, usually because of size, numbers, complexity, or greatness beyond description.

a stupendous volcanic eruption

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tremendous Ashton does a tremendous job with those guys. Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 17 Oct. 2025 What a tremendous addition to the downtown and for that spot. Terri Daxon, Oc Register, 16 Oct. 2025 Jones' falsehoods and rhetoric, the jury found, had caused the families tremendous pain and lasting harm. Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025 Much of this has been fueled by a tremendous amount of investment in AI infrastructure, which has driven significant capital formation. Zev Fima, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tremendous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tremendous
Adjective
  • The Northern Irishman is the first reigning Masters champion to play in the country and as expected, his presence at the Delhi Golf Club has had a huge impact.
    Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Pickleball has quickly become huge in the United States, with nearly 20 million people playing the sport.
    Arundathi Nair, NPR, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • My love for Stevie Wonder is enormous, and a lot of that comes from Joni’s love for Stevie Wonder.
    Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2025
  • That's an enormous gap, but what other team has a better claim as the league's 11th-best?
    Chase Goodbread, The Tuscaloosa News, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Trump on Sunday suggested Ukraine and Russia should freeze their bitter conflict along the current front lines, which would cede vast swathes of Ukrainian territory to Russia—which Kyiv has long refused to entertain.
    Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The vast majority of the population was illiterate.
    Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • With back-to-back fights with Baragon and a gigantic octopus (who arrives with no explanation), Frankenstein’s kinship with King Kong – a simplistic empathy and wrestler-like physical prowess – has never felt clearer.
    Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025
  • As the trend gathered followers in every borough, the walls of New York City became a gigantic canvas on which the collective unconscious was projected.
    Antonio Sergio Bessa, Curbed, 20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The Red Ghost was said to be a massive, red-haired camel with a skeletal rider strapped to its back.
    Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Relying solely on Amazon’s admittedly massive reach would be both a lifeline and a painful concession.
    Mara Weinraub, Bon Appetit Magazine, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The apartment was on the fourth floor of an immense nineteenth-century mansion.
    Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
  • As a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems to hold and Gaza starts to emerge from war, the immense challenges facing the territory in its eventual recovery are becoming clear.
    Leila Fadel, NPR, 20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Of course, the heaviest anti-Shannon edit came from Sage, who noticed everything from the register of Shannon’s voice changing to her adversary being a giant shark wearing a cute seal mask.
    Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The team already is contracted with oilfield services giant Halliburton, IPT Well Solutions, and Stampede Drilling.
    Jordan Blum, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • But the glaciers don’t stop at the shoreline; instead, colossal floating plates of ice hundreds of meters thick extend over the sea.
    Evan Howell, Quanta Magazine, 20 Oct. 2025
  • The Heart Nebula is a colossal star-forming region named for its resemblance to a cartoonish representation of the human heart.
    Anthony Wood, Space.com, 19 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Tremendous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tremendous. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.

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