Synonyms: Big

Many of the words on this list have their origin in mythology or fiction, coming from the names of gods, giants, and monsters. That's fitting, because these terms can be used to describe the biggest animals, buildings, storms, and events that you've ever seen. For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.
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  1. behemoth
    someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
    Along the rivers north of Paris three powerful nations, Germany, France and Britain, wrestled like mighty behemoths for supremacy. Marshall, Logan
    A behemoth is something huge, often with a somewhat frightening or overwhelming aspect. It comes from the Hebrew b'hemoth, which means "monstrous beast," and it still carries that association. The Hebrew likely comes from the Egyptian p-ehe-mau, meaning "water ox."
  2. capacious
    large in the amount that can be contained
    The midwife lifted her skirt and dug down into a capacious pocket made in her petticoat. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  3. colossal
    so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
    Like an athlete throwing the hammer, Constance whirled on her hind legs, faster and faster, until suddenly she threw her burden with a colossal heave. Redwall
    Ancient Greeks referred to a large statue, usually of a god, as a kolossos. A giant statue of Helios, the sun god, was built at the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes in 280 BCE. About the size of the Statue of Liberty, it was known as the Colossus of Rhodes. Fun fact: the Colosseum in Rome, which was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, got its current name after the emperor Nero had a gigantic statue of himself built nearby.
  4. elephantine
    of great mass; huge and bulky
    Indeed, the jet’s elephantine proportions were both a gift and a challenge to the travel industry. New York Times (Oct 10, 2017)
    Elephants are really big!
  5. enormous
    extraordinarily large in size or extent or degree
    And then maybe she would hide the skin there, deep in the hollow of a tree, for when she needed to spread enormous white wings. Breadcrumbs
  6. gargantuan
    of great mass; huge and bulky
    The Russian wrestler, who now uses his “civilian” name, Anatoly Mikhakhanov, said the sumo route to gaining weight – two gargantuan meals a day separated by an afternoon nap – was putting wrestlers’ health at risk. The Guardian (Jun 26, 2020)
    The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel is a five-volume book written in the 16th century by the French author François Rabelais. It's the satirical tale of two giants, a father and son, and their adventures.
  7. gigantic
    exceedingly large or extensive
    Yellowstone is gigantic, more than 3,400 square miles of mountains, rivers and meadows, and just a half-hour north of another majestic national park, Grand Teton. Washington Post (Jul 2, 2020)
    Gigantic comes from the same Latin root, gigant-, where we get giant. Originally it was used to describe things belonging to giants in mythology — like their weapons, or their violent deeds — and over time it became another adjective for conveying the enormous size of real things.
  8. humongous
    very large
    Today, the humongous gaps between wealth and poverty — and the lethal consequences of those gaps — are rarely in the mass media's focus. Salon (Jun 13, 2020)
    Humongous is fairly recent American slang — its first recorded use is in 1970 — though its exact origin is unclear. It's probably a combination of huge, monstrous, and tremendous, and it's humorous, childlike quality lends itself to describing very big things that aren't scary or too serious.
  9. immeasurable
    impossible to calculate
    His importance is immeasurable, as both a staggeringly brilliant musician and as a cultural upheaval in human form. Slate (May 9, 2020)
  10. immense
    unusually great in size or amount or extent or scope
    Because of its 1,500-year history, the Hagia Sophia holds immense religious, spiritual and political significance for groups inside and outside Turkey. BBC (Jul 1, 2020)
  11. juggernaut
    a massive inexorable force
    “Central Park” also shows a softer side of Odom, most famous for his Tony-winning portrayal of Aaron Burr in the Broadway juggernaut “Hamilton.” New York Times (May 28, 2020)
    In Sanskrit, jagat means "world" and natha means "lord" or "protector." This became Jagannatha, "lord of the world," in Hindi, one of Krishna's titles and the name given to a statue of the deity that was pulled on a huge cart every year in Odisha, India as part of a festival. According to legend, people would sacrifice themselves by jumping under the wheels to be crushed. Juggernaut still carries this sense of a huge, unstoppable entity or process.
  12. leviathan
    the largest or most massive thing of its kind
    Rozalski incorporates fantastical elements into his landscapes: almost every painting includes some sort of leviathan or massive mech lumbering in the background. The Verge (Mar 17, 2018)
    Livyathan is Hebrew, and appears in the Bible and elsewhere referring to an enormous sea monster. The term can be used for whales, or anything else that's huge and powerful, though there's still an aquatic flavor to the word so it's often seen describing battleships or aircraft carriers.
  13. mammoth
    so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant
    The children spent all day arranging the corn into two mammoth piles, inside a border of red leaves. The Underground Railroad: A Novel
    Like elephants, mammoths were also really big.
  14. massive
    imposing in scale or scope or degree or power
    So, working with Benchley and others, Spielberg pared down the story to focus on the drama of men battling a massive shark. New York Times (Jul 1, 2020)
  15. monumental
    imposing in size or bulk or solidity
    Set down with geometric precision at the cardinal points were four monumental slabs of the same alien metal as the citadel. Strange the Dreamer
  16. prodigious
    great in size, force, extent, or degree
    Notable for its equally prodigious strength and stupidity, the troll is often violent and unpredictable. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
    A prodigy is a person of extraordinary talent. You might hear the term child prodigy used to describe someone who's doing brilliant, adult-level work at a young age, whether in music, sports, math, or any other field. The word comes from the Latin prodigium, meaning an extraordinary thing or event: a marvel. So something prodigious is exceptional, astonishing, or overwhelming.
  17. titanic
    of great force or power
    The first thing you see as you approach it is a titanic statue of a fist holding a pen — the official Reporters Without Borders symbol for press freedom. The Verge (Mar 18, 2020)
    Titans were giants in Greek mythology, and titanikos means "of the Titans." That's why it was chosen as the name for the ill-fated cruise ship — the largest ever built at that time — that sank in 1912. The movie of the same title made over two billion dollars, so titanic is an excellent choice for describing things that are overwhelmingly large.
  18. towering
    of imposing height; especially standing out above others
    It was exciting to anticipate viewing the hardwood trees, rock ledges, caves, springs, gravel bars, as well as the towering dolomite bluffs which line the banks of the river. Washington Times (Jul 5, 2020)
    Turris is Latin, and is also the source of turret: a smaller fortified tower that's part of a larger structure or castle, or more recently a rotating enclosure for a gun, as seen on top of tanks and other armored vehicles. Something so big you have to tilt your head back to see it is literally towering, and metaphorically you can use it to describe a person of such talent that they dominate their field, like Simone Biles in Gymnastics or Michael Jordan in basketball.
  19. tremendous
    extraordinarily large in extent or amount or power
    “But what tremendous tall buildings!” exclaimed the Ladybug. James and the Giant Peach
  20. vast
    unusually great in size or amount or extent or scope
    On the other side, there was nothing but a vast expanse of ocean. Aru Shah and the End of Time
Created on Thu Feb 27 22:48:11 EST 2020 (updated Mon Mar 11 15:12:22 EDT 2024)

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