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 Houston could soar within it because Parton imbued it with a musical and sentimental purity that made room for the enormity of her expressiveness. — Ann Powers, NPR, 26 Aug. 2026 But as the third and purportedly final chapter of the trilogy, a smart campaign will get awards voters focused on the enormity of the Dune endeavor as a whole, on par with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. — Joe Reid, Vulture, 25 Aug. 2026 Unlike other flagship devices that border on enormity, the 11 Pro fits cozily in my palm. — Kimberly Gedeon, PC Magazine, 19 Aug. 2026 Grohl made mention of the enormity of this stadium production and was clearly jazzed to be near his northern Virginia roots. — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 18 Aug. 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
  • After Tesla’s deliveries report on Friday, analysts at Cantor emphasized the magnitude of the opportunity.
    — Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
  • That hasn’t made investment any less attractive, as sports teams have tended to regularly outperform the stock market by several degrees of magnitude.
    — Alex Volonte, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 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
  • Cape Ann’s distinctive, undulant geography combined pungent industry and village intensity with Atlantic immensity of sea and sky.
    — Emma Sarappo, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Romantic; something about the fearsome, post-human immensity of these spaces clearly inspired him.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of immensity
Noun
  • To Lose Their Citizenship Abraham noted during a Q&A at NYFF that much of the film overlaps with previous reporting and that atrocities in Gaza have been documented for years.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Eritrean forces fought alongside Ethiopia’s federal military during the previous war and were accused of atrocities against Tigrayan civilians.
    — Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of atrocity
Noun
  • Various events bring together factions of a fashion industry that is acutely aware of the vastness of its environmental footprint and how little is being done to mitigate it.
    — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Suspended against the luminous moon, the eagle becomes a timeless presence in the cold, breathless vastness of the alpine night.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 21 Sep. 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
  • The script brilliantly lays that out to counteract some of the hugeness of her character.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 28 July 2026
  • 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
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 5 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
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!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

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

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

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

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All