humongous

or, often, hu·mun·gous

[hyoo-muhng-guhs, -mong-, yoo-]

adjective

Slang.

1. extraordinarily large.

humongous

/ ˌhjuːˈmʌŋɡəs /

adjective

1. exceptionally large; huge

Word History and Origins

Origin of humongous¹

First recorded in 1965–70; expressive coinage, perhaps reflecting huge and monstrous with stress pattern of tremendous

Word History and Origins

Origin of humongous¹

C20: of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Therrien is famous for his large-scale sculptures — towering stacks of vertigo-inducing dishes, giant beards, enormous folding chairs and oversized pots and pans in humongous cupboards — but each piece is a “trap door,” says Schad.

From Los Angeles Times

"The government needs to have a look at this because it doesn't just affect me, there's a humongous amount of people that it's going to affect."

From BBC

She remains recumbent for an entire number, singing to a skeleton, before the bones around her reveal themselves as dancers in masks, convulsing to the humongous bassline synths of “Disease.”

From Salon

The retirement of future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald left a humongous hole in a unit that had to be rebuilt with first- and second-year players.

From Los Angeles Times

"Kylian is a wonderful player but the pressure is humongous," said Bellingham.

From BBC

Related Words

• colossal 
• elephantine 
• enormous 
• gargantuan 
• ginormous 
• humungous www.thesaurus.com
• immense 

When To Use

What does humongous mean?

Humongous is an informal way of saying extraordinarily large or huge. Some things are more than huge—they’re humongous.A similarly informal synonym is ginormous. Other synonyms include gigantic, enormous, gargantuan, colossal, and mammoth.The word is most often applied to physical objects whose size makes you marvel with awe. Blue whales are humongous. Skyscrapers are humongous. The Grand Canyon is humongous.But it can also be applied to intangible things, as in With all the champagne and caviar that we ordered, the bill for dinner is going to be humongous. Like any adjective used to describe something’s size, humongous is often used in a way that’s relative to the situation. Many things described as humongous are objectively huge, like redwood trees or the planet Jupiter. But something might be considered humongous only in comparison to other similar things. For example, an unusually large grapefruit might be described as humongous even though it’s not all that big in general—it’s simply humongous compared to normal-sized grapefruits.Humongous is sometimes casually used to mean extremely important or significant—much like the figurative use of big and huge, as in This is a humongous win for the franchise. Sometimes, this is negative, as in humongous error, humongous failure, or humongous misunderstanding. Because it’s so informal, it’s unlikely to be used in very serious situations.Example: You don’t realize how humongous the sun is until you see an image of a planet next to it for scale.