huge

[ hyoojor, often, yooj ]

adjective

, hug·er, hug·est.

1. extraordinarily large in bulk, quantity, or extent:

   a huge ship; a huge portion of ice cream.

   Synonyms: bulky, stupendous, vast, colossal, gigantic, mammoth

   Antonyms: diminutive, tiny, small

2. of unbounded extent, scope, or character; limitless:

   the huge genius of Mozart.

3. Slang. very important, successful, popular, etc.:

   The show is huge in Britain.

huge

/ hjuːdʒ /

adjective

1. extremely large in size, amount, or scope Archaic formhugeous

Pronunciation Note

See human.

Derived Forms

• ˈhugeness, noun

Other Words From

• hugely adverb
• hugeness noun
• over·huge adjective
• over·hugely adverb
• over·hugeness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of huge¹

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English huge, hoge from Old French ahuge, ahoge “enormous,” equivalent to a- a- ⁵ + hoge “height” from Germanic; compare Old Norse haugr “hill” ( high )

Word History and Origins

Origin of huge¹

C13: from Old French ahuge, of uncertain origin

Synonym Study

Huge, enormous, immense, tremendous imply great magnitude. Huge implies massiveness, bulkiness, or even shapelessness: a huge mass of rock; a huge collection of antiques. Enormous, literally out of the norm, applies to what exceeds in extent, magnitude, or degree, a norm or standard: an enormous iceberg. Tremendous, in informal use, applies to anything so huge as to be astonishing or to inspire awe: a tremendous amount of equipment. Immense, literally not measurable, is particularly applicable to what is exceedingly great, without reference to a standard: immense buildings. All are used figuratively: a huge success; enormous curiosity; tremendous effort; immense joy.

Example Sentences

In terms of results and performances, it was a huge success.

From BBC

A hysterectomy to remove cancerous tissue had a huge impact on her body.

From BBC

Again, this led to a huge influx of buyers, causing Dink Doink's value to spike.

From BBC

“She will make a huge difference in our department of education. ... I would love for all parents to have rights over their children.”

From Los Angeles Times

An MP said there were "huge flaws" in the government's original impact assessment for the scheme, while another queried why compensation was not capped.

From BBC

Related Words

• colossal
• enormous
• extensive
• gargantuan
• giant
• gigantic
• great
• humongous
• immense
• magnificent
• mammoth
• massive
• monstrous
• monumental
• towering
• tremendous
• vast