[From Latin ēnormis, unusual, huge, monstrous : ē-, ex-, ex- + norma, norm; see gnō- in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, from Middle English enormious, from Latin ēnormis.] e·nor'mous·ly adv., e·nor'mous·ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives describe what is extraordinarily large. Enormous suggests a marked excess beyond the norm in size, amount, or degree: an enormous boulder. Immense refers to boundless or immeasurable size or extent: immense pleasure. Huge especially implies greatness of size or capacity: a huge success. Gigantic refers to size likened to that of a giant: a gigantic redwood tree. Colossal suggests a hugeness that elicits awe or taxes belief: a colossal ancient temple. Mammoth is applied to something of unwieldy hugeness: "mammoth stone figures in . . . buckled eighteenth-century pumps, the very soles of which seem mountainously tall" (Cynthia Ozick). Tremendous suggests awe-inspiring or fearsome size: ate a tremendous meal. Stupendous implies size that astounds or defies description: "The whole thing was a stupendous, incomprehensible farce" (W. Somerset Maugham). Gargantuan especially stresses greatness of capacity, as for food or pleasure: a gargantuan appetite. Vast refers to greatness of extent, size, area, or scope: "Of creatures, how few vast as the whale" (Herman Melville).
[i-nawr-muh
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