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Gargantua is the name of a giant king in François Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua, the second part of a five-volume series about the giant and his son Pantagruel. All of the details of Gargantua's life befit a giant. He rides a colossal mare whose tail switches so violently that it fells the entire forest of Orleans. He has an enormous appetite, such that in one incident he inadvertently swallows five pilgrims while eating a salad. The scale of everything connected with Gargantua led to the adjective gargantuan, which since William Shakespeare's time has been used for anything of tremendous size or volume.
Examples of gargantuan in a Sentence
Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 11 June 2025
That dish is clever, for sure, but it’s served in an oddly gargantuan portion, and its playful clash of textures and temperatures wears out its welcome after a bite or two.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 8 June 2025
The centerpiece is a gargantuan grill where Franco barbecues 20-pound steaks for barefoot guests; around him, there is dancing, mingling, and live music, usually a mix of musicians from the area and Franco’s high school friends.
—Alessandra Schade, Vogue, 7 June 2025
There will be gargantuan economic impacts, societal impacts, cultural impacts, and so on.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Gargantuan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gargantuan. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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gargantuan
adjective
from Gargantua, a giant with an enormous appetite in books by the French author François Rabelais
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