zillion
Americannoun
plural
zillions,plural
zillionadjective
noun
determiner
Etymology
Origin of zillion
First recorded in 1930–35; jocular alteration of million, billion, etc.
Explanation
A zillion is a huge but nonspecific number. If your favorite café is so crowded that there's barely room to stand, let alone find a place to sit, you might say there are a zillion people in there. Use zillion when there are so many things or people that it would be hard to count them all. Zillion sounds like an actual number because of its similarity to billion, million, and trillion, and it is modeled on these real numerical values. However, like its cousin jillion, zillion is an informal way to talk about a number that's enormous but indefinite.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Playing since August, these Hoosiers have endured a zillion doubts, tests, TV interviews, trophy presentations, confetti showers and snoozy sponsor speeches.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 10, 2026
I bet the dorms are nicer, and not everyone needs to go to a school with a zillion people, many of whom are deranged.
From Slate • Jun. 12, 2025
It’s been sad and hard with a zillion reminders of each other.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 3, 2025
Fortunately, Salon's Culture team watched about 0.000001% of those zillion streamers and have helped sort the mid from the must-watch.
From Salon • Dec. 20, 2024
Of course I won, because I was lighter and it hadn’t been a zillion years since I had gone on a swing.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
