enormity

[ ih-nawr-mi-tee ]
See synonyms for enormity on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural e·nor·mi·ties
  1. outrageous or heinous character; atrociousness: the enormity of war crimes.

  2. something outrageous or heinous, as an offense: The bombing of the defenseless population was an enormity beyond belief.

  1. greatness of size, scope, extent, or influence; immensity:The enormity of such an act of generosity is staggering.

Origin of enormity

1
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English enormite, from Middle French, from Latin ēnormitās; see enorm, -ty2

confusables note For enormity

3. Enormity has been in frequent and continuous use in the sense “immensity” since the 18th century: The enormity of the task was overwhelming. Some hold that enormousness is the correct word in that sense and that enormity can only mean “outrageousness” or “atrociousness”: The enormity of his offenses appalled the public. Enormity occurs regularly in edited writing with the meanings both of great size and of outrageous or horrifying character, behavior, etc. Many people, however, continue to regard enormity in the sense of great size as nonstandard.

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

British Dictionary definitions for enormity

enormity

/ (ɪˈnɔːmɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the quality or character of being outrageous; extreme wickedness

  2. an act of great wickedness; atrocity

  1. informal vastness of size or extent

Origin of enormity

1
C15: from Old French enormite, from Late Latin ēnormitās hugeness; see enormous

usage For enormity

In modern English, it is common to talk about the enormity of something such as a task or a problem, but one should not talk about the enormity of an object or area: distribution is a problem because of India's enormous size (not India's 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