enormity
outrageous or heinous character; atrociousness: the enormity of war crimes.
something outrageous or heinous, as an offense: The bombing of the defenseless population was an enormity beyond belief.
greatness of size, scope, extent, or influence; immensity:The enormity of such an act of generosity is staggering.
Origin of enormity
1confusables note For enormity
Other words for enormity
Words that may be confused with enormity
- enormity , enormousness (see confusables note at the current entry)
Words Nearby enormity
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use enormity in a sentence
Given the enormity of the task at hand, we need to function like an ecosystem, finding strength in our diversity.
The Climate Crisis Is a Call to Action. These 5 Steps Helped Me Figure Out How to Be of Use | Katharine Wilkinson | July 19, 2021 | TimeOne is the way that these enormous companies make the money, and then the enormity of these enormous companies.
Taxing digital advertising could help break up big tech | MIT Technology Review Insights | June 14, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewWhen Gates directed his focus to philanthropy two decades ago, he also seized attention, wielding outsize influence in the areas where the foundation gives due to the enormity of his wealth.
When philanthropy’s power couple splits, Melinda French Gates’s influence could grow | Jay Greene | May 5, 2021 | Washington PostProgressives worry that neither proposal is ambitious enough to address the enormity of the problem.
Congress Is Considering 2 Plans to Get More Money to Parents. Here's How Each Would Work | Belinda Luscombe | February 12, 2021 | TimeWe’re not going to stop causing the enormity of harms we do to animals because we care about chickens and pigs—it’s going to be because we create a new technology that renders the current system obsolete.
Your first lab-grown burger is coming soon—and it’ll be “blended” | Katie McLean | December 18, 2020 | MIT Technology Review
To look at her in tears was to behold the enormity of her loss.
It was an objective test that, for the first time, let the enormity of the drug problem in America rear its ugly head.
Gov't Abandons Best Survey for Counting U.S. Drug Users | Abby Haglage | April 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTA real-life drama proving the enormity of what just one bullet can do continued to unfold.
The Movie Murder 911 Tape: Victim’s Last Breaths, With Shooter Nearby | Michael Daly | January 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTEven if it was a crutch, the Biblical language in these older writings did justice to the enormity of the forces at play.
Polar Explorer vs. Reality TV Crew: Tim Jarvis in the Footsteps of Shackleton | Darrell Hartman | January 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd what better way to rally the troops (and they're all troops, in a pinch) than by pointing out the enormity of the enemy?
North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un’s Game of Thrones | Kevin Bleyer | December 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTShe had called the culprit to her desk just before the noon recess and now showed her the enormity of her offenses.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage | Gertrude W. Morrison"Here, let go my hand," she added, suddenly conscious of the enormity John Sibley was committing by squeezing it now.
You Never Know Your Luck, Complete | Gilbert ParkerBut the youth and inexperience of Riaro excused the enormity of a crime perpetrated under the sanction of the supreme pontiff.
Rule of the Monk | Giuseppe GaribaldiIt was marked in the circumstances and enormity of the crime, and marked in the subsequent good conduct of the prisoner.
Thoughts on Educational Topics and Institutions | George S. BoutwellI know that is an enormity, but I heard the Major tell of currying horses once.
Wayside Courtships | Hamlin Garland
British Dictionary definitions for enormity
/ (ɪˈnɔːmɪtɪ) /
the quality or character of being outrageous; extreme wickedness
an act of great wickedness; atrocity
informal vastness of size or extent
Origin of enormity
1usage For enormity
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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