Advertisement
Advertisement
colossal
[ kuh-los-uhl ]
adjective
- extraordinarily great in size, extent, or degree; gigantic; huge.
- of or resembling a colossus.
- (initial capital letter) Architecture. noting or pertaining to a classical order whose columns or pilasters span two or more stories of a building.
Discover More
Derived Forms
- coˈlossally, adverb
Discover More
Other Words From
- col·os·sal·i·ty [kol-, uh, -, sal, -i-tee], noun
- co·lossal·ly adverb
- super·co·lossal adjective
- super·co·lossal·ly adverb
Discover More
Word History and Origins
Origin of colossal1
Discover More
Synonym Study
Discover More
Example Sentences
Standing around on top of the ground trying to get your arms around this colossal problem is futile.
At exactly two miles from the starting point, we turned to our right and saw a colossal pyramid dune the color of burnt parchment.
When Qwikster proved a colossal failure, the mistake was Hastings’s own.
Not half a mile into the journey, I was surrounded by colossal redwoods.
The problem is that all this heating and magnetic confinement requires colossal amounts of energy.
There was The Brittany Murphy Story, dubbed a “colossal mess” by reviewers.
We, in olden days, had towering kooks and colossal villains.
But the quarantine, lifted just 10 days in, was a colossal failure.
Colossal geological forces collided: the Pacific Plate, the North American Plate and the Farralon Plate.
A tiny handful of families, it is true, have managed to keep colossal wealth in their own hands over a period of many centuries.
A colossal steam "traveller" had ceaselessly carried great blocks of stone and long steel girders from point to point.
Profiting by this, Benjy quietly moved away round a colossal buttress of the berg, and took refuge in an ice-cave.
Lady Victoria's earlier mood of colossal indifference had been dissipated by her son's return.
You first enter a large fore-court, at the extremity of which a colossal gateway leads into the inner courts.
If ever I started upon a colossal piece of folly, it was this same trip abroad.
Advertisement
Discover More
More About Colossal
What does colossal mean?
Colossal describes something as being very large in size, degree, or amount, as in I went to a colossal shopping mall that stretched for a mile. If something is colossal, it is enormous, gigantic, or massive.
Colossal can also be used to describe a large degree of something, that is, a large amount or a large extent, like a colossal amount of boxes or a colossal advantage in the playoffs.
Less commonly, colossal describes something as resembling a colossus, which is a very large statue, as in The large man was so colossal that he blocked the entire doorway.
Example: Tyrannosaurus rex was a colossal dinosaur that towered over many of the smaller animals.
Where does colossal come from?
The first records of colossal come from around 1705. It is created from the noun colossus, which comes from the Greek kolossós, meaning “statue.”
Both colossal and colossus make a reference to the Colossus of Rhodes, an enormous statue of a Greek god that was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The statue was said to be over 100 feet tall, and it was once a common myth that it straddled the harbor of Rhodes. The statue fell after an earthquake that occurred in the third century BCE.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to colossal?
- clossality (noun)
- colossally (adjective)
- supercolossal (adjective)
- supercolossally (adverb)
What are some synonyms for colossal?
What are some words that share a root or word element with colossal?
What are some words that often get used in discussing colossal?
How is colossal used in real life?
Colossal is a common word used to describe things that are very large.
Trying to help my 88-yr-old grandma register to get the vaccine in NYC and boy what a colossal mess this is…
— Will Feuer (@WillFOIA) January 11, 2021
I just had that realization in the middle of getting a haircut that "I've made a colossal mistake and can't go back now"
— Brandon Calvillo (@BJCalvillo) May 5, 2015
There as an absolutely colossal turtle that roams Ramtown's pond
— George Catanzaro (@CatanzaroGeorge) June 18, 2014
Try using colossal!
Which of the following things would NOT be described as colossal?
A. The Pacific Ocean
B. a mouse
C. Jupiter
D. a 100-story skyscraper
Word of the Day
[ak-suh-lot-l ]
Meaning and examplesStart each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!
By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse