colossus

noun

co·​los·​sus kə-ˈlä-səs 

plural colossi kə-ˈlä-ˌsī 

1

: a statue of gigantic size and proportions

2

: a person or thing of immense size or power

Did you know?

The original colossi (notice the plural form) were the larger-than-life statues made by the Greeks and Romans. The most famous of these was the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the sun god Helios built on the Greek island of Rhodes around 280 B.C. that was over 100 feet tall and took more than 12 years to build. The Statue of Liberty is a modern colossus, enormous and stately, at the entrance to New York Harbor. And someone who has played a colossal role in history, such as Winston Churchill, may be called a colossus as well.

Synonyms

• behemoth
• blockbuster
• dinosaur
• dreadnought
• elephant
• giant
• Goliath
• jumbo
• leviathan
• mammoth
• mastodon
• monster
• titan
• whale
• whopper

Examples of colossus in a Sentence

The building is a colossus of steel and glass.

Leonardo da Vinci remains a colossus in the history of art.

Recent Examples on the Web

The image of Madigan, a famously Irish Southwest Sider, as a monumental desert colossus with the head of a human, body of a lion and wings of an eagle brought some levity to an otherwise quick, cut-and-dried day of testimony in Madigan’s trial, which is now in its 10th week. —Megan Crepeau, Chicago Tribune, 10 Dec. 2024

This colossus is surrounded by a corroded tin fence held up with bits of scrap wood. —Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024

President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act is a federal colossus and continues to grow like bamboo. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 1 Nov. 2024

But the security advisory published on Nov. 01 by authentication colossus Okta did just that, and then some. —Davey Winder, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from Greek kolossos

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

colossus

noun

co·​los·​sus kə-ˈläs-əs 

plural colossi -ˈläs-ˌī 

1

: a huge statue

2

: a person or thing of great size or power

Etymology

from Latin colossus "huge statue, colossus"