Synonym Chooser

How is the word gigantic distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of gigantic are colossal, enormous, huge, immense, mammoth, and vast. While all these words mean "exceedingly large," gigantic stresses the contrast with the size of others of the same kind.

a gigantic sports stadium

When is colossal a more appropriate choice than gigantic?

The words colossal and gigantic can be used in similar contexts, but colossal applies especially to a human creation of stupendous or incredible dimensions.

a colossal statue of Lincoln

How do enormous and immense relate to one another, in the sense of gigantic?

Enormous and immense both suggest an exceeding of all ordinary bounds in size or amount or degree, but enormous often adds an implication of abnormality or monstrousness.

an enormous expense
an immense shopping mall

When might huge be a better fit than gigantic?

While the synonyms huge and gigantic are close in meaning, huge commonly suggests an immensity of bulk or amount.

incurred a huge debt

When could mammoth be used to replace gigantic?

While in some cases nearly identical to gigantic, mammoth suggests both hugeness and ponderousness of bulk.

a mammoth boulder

When can vast be used instead of gigantic?

In some situations, the words vast and gigantic are roughly equivalent. However, vast usually suggests immensity of extent.

the vast Russian steppes

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 gigantic Volunteers will help with the gigantic folding and shipping effort. Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 13 May 2025 The problem is that over decades of development tokamak designs have become gigantic, with huge, complicated superconducting magnetic coils to generate the containment fields along with equally complex and huge electromagnetic heating systems. David Szondy may 10, New Atlas, 10 May 2025 In the afternoon, the café-style windows are thrown open as its bistro tables spill out onto the sidewalk, ready to hold gigantic Aperol spritzes in burgundy glasses. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 2 May 2025 While Trump has already implemented an additional 10% tariff on goods imports from almost all countries, as well as much higher tariffs on some sectors and a gigantic duty on imports from China, the European Union has so far only threatened limited retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Olesya Dmitracova, CNN Money, 2 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for gigantic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gigantic
Adjective
  • Tesla sales have experienced a huge international decline, leaving room for competitors to gain momentum.
    Charles Singh, USA Today, 16 May 2025
  • So, that was a huge surprise, but brilliant storytelling, as far as I’m concerned.
    Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 15 May 2025
Adjective
  • Since 2013, two giant sculptures of soaring eagles with 50-foot wingspans—one of which carried the wizard Gandalf on its back—have welcomed travelers to New Zealand’s Wellington International Airport.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 May 2025
  • Trying to wrestle the gun away from one another, the boys take shelter behind what appears to be a giant outdoor fan.
    Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 13 May 2025
Adjective
  • From the rooftop balcony, views over dune to the sea, of the enormous windmills, and across to the port reveal its unimaginable scale.
    Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
  • Heisman winner Ingram led a ground-and-pound offense, while McClain and enormous defensive tackle Cody — who blocked a last-second field goal to survive Lane Kiffin-led Tennessee — became the faces of a defense that allowed just 11.7 points per game.
    Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • The High Plains also get plenty of love from Hill Country wineries—the Panhandle does, after all, produce the vast majority of the grapes grown in the state.
    Amanda Ogle, Travel + Leisure, 18 May 2025
  • There are the vast arcs of the avenues, the great green slashes of parks and cemeteries, the jagged field of skyscrapers, steepled and spiked like iron filings pulled up toward the great magnet of the sky.
    Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 18 May 2025
Adjective
  • The massive undersea volcano reaches more than 3,600 feet above the seabed is located 300 miles offshore.
    Elizabeth Weise, USA Today, 17 May 2025
  • Boston has constructed massive leads in each game, often to begin them.
    Fred Katz, New York Times, 16 May 2025
Adjective
  • There is a tremendous difference between getting the two countries to step back from the brink of war and facilitating a permanent solution to an 80-year dispute.
    Lisa Curtis, Foreign Affairs, 13 May 2025
  • Nonetheless, Schaffer’s golden opportunity comes with tremendous obstacles.
    Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 13 May 2025
Adjective
  • This sudden flash of light accompanied by a colossal burst of subatomic particles is called a solar flare.
    Phil Plait, Scientific American, 1 May 2025
  • The scientists hope to eventually be able to capture an adult colossal squid on camera.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • His goal has not been met of finding $1 trillion in federal savings from waste, fraud and abuse. Veterans Affairs Department: A new internal task force at the mammoth department wants employees to report anti-Christian bias among coworkers going back to the Biden administration.
    Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Over the span of a mammoth, 52-song setlist, the musicians and TDE labelmates traded the stage back and forth and debuted tracks from their newest releases—2024’s GNX and SOS Deluxe: Lana.
    Walden Green, Pitchfork, 20 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Gigantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gigantic. Accessed 23 May. 2025.

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