enormity

noun

i-ˈnȯr-mə-tē How to pronounce enormity (audio)
Definition of enormitynext
1
as in badness
the state or quality of being utterly evil the enormity of the crimes committed by the Nazis

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in magnitude
the quality or state of being very large the enormity of the canyon can only be grasped by taking a trip through its entire length

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 enormity Canada’s relative inexperience in the World Cup, plus the enormity of this tournament on home soil, has meant every Canadian game has been the biggest in the program’s history. — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 25 June 2026 Words can't express the enormity of this tragedy. — Katie Houlis, CBS News, 20 June 2026 Its enormity eclipsed the hot desert sun. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026 Despite Kai Havertz opening the scoring after just six minutes, the final didn’t really spark into life until the final 20 minutes when legs got heavy, changes were made and both teams took off the handbrake and the enormity of the occasion truly set in. — Ben Church, CNN Money, 30 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for enormity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enormity
  1. badness
  2. magnitude
  3. sinfulness
  4. immensity
  5. atrocity
  6. vastness
  7. evilness
  8. hugeness
Noun
  • On one side, a satanic figure named Randall Flagg who gathers his forces of badness to Las Vegas; on the other, the good guys, led by 108-year-old Mother Abigail in, of all places, Boulder.
    — Barbara Ellis, Denver Post, 15 Jan. 2026
  • The show premiered over Thanksgiving weekend, when people were tired and full and bored (and probably also horny), and countered our world’s unceasing badness with its world’s buoyant sweetness.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
Definition of badness
Noun
  • Good luck drawing a crowd of that magnitude every other week via one of the digital upstarts.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 31 July 2026
  • Desperate struggles against the encroaching elements become a brief interlude before the situation unravels into a disaster of a different magnitude.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2026
Definition of magnitude
Noun
  • But soon after, in Genesis 18, God tells Abraham of plans to investigate reports of sinfulness in Sodom and Gomorrah.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026
  • Denver author Josiah Hesse was raised by Evangelical parents in churches that believe in the torments of hell, that their poverty is due to their sinfulness and lack of faith.
    — Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2026
Definition of sinfulness
Noun
  • Take in the 55-foot-high arches with their 29,000 Guastavino ceiling tiles, the larger-than-life windows, and try, just try, to reckon with the immensity of Detroit's story.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 July 2026
  • But Supergirl doesn’t quite want to deal with the immensity of its protagonist’s feelings; her drunken stupor is often played for laughs, defined by disheveled hair, big sunglasses, and plenty of slurred speech.
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 26 June 2026
Definition of immensity
Noun
  • Despite initially losing consciousness herself as a result of the explosion, Maria still vividly remembered the atrocity when recounting it to the Museum of Civilian Voices.
    — Emile Nuh, CNN Money, 31 July 2026
  • The finale, which opens with Max pausing to observe a small courtesy before committing an atrocity on Crystal’s houseboat, closes with the Bowdens reaching for ordinary family life after surviving an atrocity of their own.
    — JP Mangalindan, Time, 31 July 2026
Definition of atrocity
Noun
  • Nothing but verdant grey hills, sheep, and waist-high walls of ancient stones that vanished into the vastness of the landscape.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 July 2026
  • The reef itself becomes the subject, inviting viewers to imagine its vastness from the perspective of one of its smallest inhabitants.
    — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of vastness
Noun
  • That was really what helped me into the character and into her evilness.
    — William Earl, Variety, 4 Oct. 2025
Definition of evilness
Noun
  • Nowhere in the vestiges of what was once the sprawl of corporate hugeness known as The General Electric Company are there signs that Katharine Blodgett's laboratory notebooks still exist.
    — Natalia Sánchez Loayza, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2026
  • Like Phish or Taylor Swift or The Dead, 21P have created a universe for their fans that is a self-sustaining mechanism, even if the hugeness of it doesn’t always translate into huge chart success.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 23 Sep. 2025
Definition of hugeness

Browse Nearby Words

ennui
enormity
enormous
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Enormity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enormity. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on enormity

Nglish: Translation of enormity for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of élan

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All