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immense
adjective
Did you know?
Just how big is something if it is immense? Huge? Colossal? Humongous? Ginormous? Or merely enormous? Immense is often used as a synonym of all of the above and, as such, can simply function as yet another way for English speakers to say "really, really, really big." But immense is also used in a sense which goes beyond merely really, really, really big to describe something that is so great in size or degree that it transcends ordinary means of measurement. This sense harks back to the original sense of immense for something which is so tremendously big (such as, say, the universe) that it has not been or cannot be measured. This sense reflects the word's roots in the Latin immensus, from in- ("un-") and mensus, the past participle of metiri, "to measure."
Synonyms
- astronomical
- astronomic
- Brobdingnagian
- bumper
- colossal
- cosmic
- cosmical
- cyclopean
- elephantine
- enormous
- galactic
- gargantuan
- giant
- gigantesque
- gigantic
- grand
- herculean
- heroic
- heroical
- Himalayan
- huge
- humongous
- humungous
- jumbo
- king-size
- king-sized
- leviathan
- mammoth
- massive
- mega
- mighty
- monster
- monstrous
- monumental
- mountainous
- oceanic
- pharaonic
- planetary
- prodigious
- super
- super-duper
- supersize
- supersized
- titanic
- tremendous
- vast
- vasty
- walloping
- whacking
- whopping
enormous, immense, huge, vast, gigantic, colossal, mammoth mean exceedingly large.
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.
huge commonly suggests an immensity of bulk or amount.
vast usually suggests immensity of extent.
gigantic stresses the contrast with the size of others of the same kind.
colossal applies especially to a human creation of stupendous or incredible dimensions.
mammoth suggests both hugeness and ponderousness of bulk.
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Cite this Entry
“Immense.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immense. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
immense
adjectiveMore from Merriam-Webster on immense
Nglish: Translation of immense for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of immense for Arabic Speakers
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