enormouse‧nor‧mous /ɪˈnɔːməs $ -ɔːr-/ ●●● S2 W3 AWL adjective 
an enormous bunch of flowers an enormous amount of money The team made an enormous effort.► see thesaurus at bigGRAMMAREnormous is not used with ‘very’. You say: · Their garden is absolutely enormous. ✗Don’t say: Their garden is very enormous.Grammar guide ‒ ADJECTIVES
WORD ORIGINenormous
Origin:
1500-1600 Latin enormis ‘out of the ordinary’, from norma ‘rule’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He has an enormous amount of work to finish before Friday.
- Their house is enormous.
- In the tenth century the number of houses was still relatively modest, the distances not enormous.
- It gives you enormous mood swings, which nobody told me about.
- Talk is of enormous relevance in understanding status and in developing your own powers of influence.
- The conceptual problems of such a model are enormous.
- The passive smoking issue holds enormous fears for the tobacco industry.
- The properties of meteorites tell us an enormous amount about the properties of asteroids.
- The River was an enormous and immediate popular and critical success.
- Unfortunately the book was completed too soon to reflect the enormous impact of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry on biology.
THESAURUSvery big
extremely big: · The table was enormous.· a huge explosion· Their house is huge.· There is a huge amount of work to be done.· There has been a massive increase in oil prices.· The company is massive, operating in 150 countries.· A massive fire destroyed more than thirty homes.· He’s been under an enormous amount of stress recently.· The changes will have an enormous impact.
[only before noun] very big – used especially to describe the level or number of something: · He achieved great success in America.· The college offers a great number of courses.· a great advantage
extremely big – used about areas, distances, numbers, or amounts: · vast areas of rainforest· A vast number of tourists visit the island every year.
extremely big and much bigger than other things of the same type: · Gigantic waves crashed onto the beach.
extremely big – used about amounts or objects: · James ran up a colossal phone bill.· a colossal statue of Napoleon
having an extremely big effect: · There have been some tremendous changes.· My new job will be a tremendous challenge.· The children were making a tremendous amount of noise.
Longman Language Activatorvery big very big and impressive: · She wears an engagement ring set with a huge diamond.· My grandmother was wearing an enormous hat.· She looked at the huge motorcycle. "I'll never be able to ride that!''· There was an enormous spider in the bottom of the bath.· By the time of his death the company had grown into an enormous multi-national operation.
very big and impressive - used especially in literature: · Like great sailing ships, the clouds sped across the sky.· As far as the eye could see, there stretched a great herd of buffalo.
spoken extremely big: · They've built a great big shopping mall in the centre of town.· There are fish in the pool, great big ones.· She was given a great big bunch of flowers.
use this about things that are extremely big and impressive, especially when they are solid and heavy: · Her house is massive.· The ancient temple's massive stone pillars had begun to crumble.· The bell is massive, weighing over forty tons.
much bigger than other things of the same type, often in a slightly strange or frightening way: · Gigantic waves more than 40 feet high crashed against the boat.· These gigantic creatures became extinct in the Jurassic period.
extremely and surprisingly big - used especially about structures, buildings, and other things that have been built: · There was a colossal statue of the King in the middle of the square.· A crane arrived, its colossal arm reaching out of the sky toward the building.
use this about a plant or animal that has grown to an unusually large size, or is of a type that is always much larger than ordinary plants or animals: · Giant cabbages grew in the garden.· Be careful. The forest is full of giant snakes and spiders.· ...and then this giant green monster appeared from the cave.
use this about packets, bottles, or other products that are much bigger than the size that is usually sold: · an extra large packet of cornflakes· Extra large eggs are generally a better buy than medium or large.
spoken informal to be extremely big compared to the usual size: · Look at the size of that pumpkin -- it's a whopper.
very large numbers or amounts · A huge number of people turned up for the demonstration.· Their profits are enormous.· Joan had very little money, and her hotel bill was huge.· Enormous sums of money were spent on the construction of the Channel Tunnel.
use this about an amount, number etc that is so large that it cannot be easily measured: · The refugees arrived in vast numbers from villages all along the border.· Vast quantities of food and drink were consumed at the wedding.
extremely large: · The system is capable of recording massive amounts of information.· Union leaders are warning of massive job losses.· The sums involved are massive -- over £12 billion in the first year alone.
use this about numbers or amounts, especially of money, that are extremely and surprisingly large: · Children are failing exams and dropping out of school in colossal numbers.
spoken informal a whopping sum of money or number is extremely large: · He managed to get a TV celebrity to open the theatre -- but at a whopping fee.· In the divorce proceedings, she demanded the car and a whopping two-thirds of the family business.
big places, areas, cities · The nearest big town is twenty miles away.· Which is bigger, Tokyo or London?· We've got a big park fairly near our house.· Germany is much bigger than Britain.
use this about an area that is bigger than average size: · He lived alone on the edge of a large forest.· The farm buildings are spread over a large area.· Philip found himself in a large playground surrounded by high brick walls.
use this about a room, building, or car that has a lot of space inside: · The holiday villas are spacious, airy, and close to the sea.· Spacious and luxurious apartments are available to company employees.· The new Toyota saloon is both roomy and comfortable.· Their new apartment's very roomy.
spoken to be fairly big, especially big enough or bigger than you expect: · Braintree is a fair size but it isn't exactly a lively town.· I'm sure it would hold 500 cars. It's quite a fair size.
extremely big: · Archeologists have found the remains of a huge city in the middle of the desert.· The drawing room looked out over a huge lawn.· The farm is huge, stretching for over fifteen miles.· The distances between cities in Russia are simply enormous.
extremely large: · Migrating birds cover immense distances every winter.· 60 million years ago, the whole area was an immense desert.
use this about areas of land, deserts, distances etc that are extremely large and usually have very few people in them: · Vast areas of the Amazon rainforest have been destroyed.· Vast distances separate one isolated community from another.· a vast area of waste land
use this about houses or rooms that are extremely big and impressive: · a palatial residence with a fine collection of 18th century paintings· She lives in a palatial New York apartment.
having a big effect · The city has a big problem with drugs.· If you think I'm coming with you, you're making a big mistake.
having a serious and important effect, especially on a lot of people, places, situations etc: · Heavy traffic is a major problem in most cities.· Think carefully before you decide on such a major undertaking.· Nuclear weapons are a major obstacle on the road to peace.
formal having a fairly large or important effect: · The recent slowdown in the US economy is likely to have a considerable impact on the rest of the world.· There was a considerable delay in the processing of our application.
use this to emphasize how much of an effect something has, especially a good effect: · Thanks. You've been a great help.· It would be of great assistance if customers could have the exact money ready.· I have great difficulty in reading without my glasses.
use this to emphasize that something is extremely big, important, or serious: · The city of Detroit has a huge crime problem.· Enormous changes are taking place in the way we communicate with each other.· The difference between living in the country and living in the city is immense.· His contribution to the team's success has been immense.
use this to emphasize how big, important, and often exciting an effect will be: · My new job will be a tremendous challenge.· Your advice has been a tremendous help to us.· It was a tremendous thrill, meeting her in person.
involving a lot of money or effort, or a lot of people or places: · Large-scale development has given new life to the inner city.· We need large-scale investment in the industry's future.on a large scale: · Developing countries will need help on a large scale for many years to come.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY an enormous amount of money The team made an enormous effort.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a considerable amount of money Richard has the biggest ego (=thinks he is very clever and important) of anyone I’ve ever met.
an enormous amount of money The team made an enormous effort. a considerable amount of money· By the time Ron was 16 he had an enormous appetite.
Richard has the biggest ego (=thinks he is very clever and important) of anyone I’ve ever met.· He always plays with tremendous enthusiasm.
· There is great excitement about the Pope's visit.· The news causes tremendous excitement.
· An enormous explosion tore the roof off the building.
· Ford placed enormous faith in the new model.
· Industry has a huge impact on the environment we live in.· The impact has been enormous on people’s daily lives.
· Crime rates have great importance for the government.· Some people attach enormous importance to personal wealth.
(=very great)· This tournament has created enormous interest.
· He survived a night in the cold water against incredible odds.
· Steinbeck’s books have brought enormous pleasure to many people.
· the enormous popularity of Coca-Cola
· This is a team with great potential.
· The central banks have huge power.
· The company is heading towards a disaster of enormous proportions.
· The fish grows to gigantic proportions.
· Computers can handle vast quantities of data.
· It was a great relief to him when she returned safely.
(=very great)· The victory gave him immense satisfaction.
· Hercules was famous for his great strength.
· Staff experienced considerable stress as a result of the changes.
· The company has invested huge sums in research.
· Fruit is eaten by a huge variety of animals and birds.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Competition for places in high status universities is so enormous that after-school attendance at expensive private crammer schools is virtually compulsory.· Simply put, it is a means of generating internal power so enormous one can fell an opponent without actually touching him.· I understood why the pyramids were so enormous and splendid, of course.· The cost of this endeavor is so enormous that it seems most unlikely to happen.· Today the cost of making theatre is so enormous it's become a new form of institutionalising.· The mussels were so enormous I suspected they had some kind of overactive glandular condition.· The implications were almost too enormous to contemplate. So enormous it couldn't possibly be true -could it?· The thundering in her heart had grown so enormous that she would not have heard a thing had there been an earthquake.
NOUN· This flexibility is an enormous advantage over one-off end-of-year examinations.· This is a hefty shift away from the traditional model of motherhood, but it generates enormous advantages.· But in the end it proved an enormous advantage.· They have an enormous advantage in the strength of the yen and the size of their asset base.
· We have an enormous amount of data stored on 9C computers nationwide.· But what impressed me most was the enormous amount of sheer wasted space everywhere I happened to glance.· I became obsessed with the whole idea and spent an enormous amount of time researching it.· The enormous amount we have learned about male and female psychology simply has not been enough.· I spend enormous amounts of time trying to develop this characteristic in my company.· However there is now an enormous amount of experimental evidence in favour of it.· The first is that enormous amounts of professional time and effort will be absorbed in explaining apparent differences between classes and schools.· And this truly takes an enormous amount of time.
· Male speaker There've been such enormous changes.· Above all, it alone can not fully control the enormous change of which it is a part.· This seems to me to be an enormous change.· Half a dozen good people in top positions can bring about enormous change.· More broadly, there are the enormous changes of the past few years to reflect upon.· Everything from commerce to entertainment to government is on the verge of enormous change, he adds.· Government attitudes towards monetary policy have undergone enormous changes since 1945.· But it is an uneasy calm, expectant of imminent, enormous change.
· The enormous cost of engineering the lines ensured that little money was left for the stations.· The hangup here is the enormous cost.· Without the enormous costs run up by the Royal Navy vessel, the Yard would have made profits of £6.5m.· Conservation measures of this kind help to explain the enormous cost of both wetland and underwater archaeology.· There is an enormous cost in terms of both human tragedy and the economic implications, through days lost through sickness and ill health.· Work had already started on the bridge when the error was spotted and it had to be raised at enormous cost.· The enormous cost of contested libel actions means that most plaintiffs will need financial support from unions or employers.
· It is also true that responses are a function of enormous differences between and within individuals.· As with any complex electronic information system or service, a strong support structure can make an enormous difference in customer satisfaction.· Litigation itself brings them face to face with the enormous differences between the theory and practice of law.· About fifteen minutes a day for a week or two usually makes an enormous difference.· There is an enormous difference in the child-mortality figures.· Creating a mentor relationship with a child from this back-ground can make an enormous difference in his life.· It's made an enormous difference to the way I go about my work.· This makes for an enormous difference.
· These and the other changes presented enormous difficulties in the immediate post-war years.· We have had enormous difficulties in enforcing our authority....· Even that would cause enormous difficulties.· This means that either President Bush or President Gore would have enormous difficulty getting his showcase campaign proposals through the legislature.· There were enormous difficulties, equally, in the sphere of cultural policy and minority rights.
· She had returned to bed and Belinda could see that she was making an enormous effort to remain calm.· The same freedom from job limits that unleashes enormous effort also encourages people to overextend themselves.· Only the tightly clenched line of her jawbone revealed the enormous effort it was taking her just to stand upright.· It is perhaps not fortuitous that Stein made the enormous effort to revive the publication when he did.· Then, with an enormous effort of will, he followed them.· But no one denies that it will take enormous effort to keep her stimulated and well.· This change led to an enormous effort to begin active treatment in the neonatal period for virtually all infants with this condition.
· Social class inequalities, however, remain as strong as ever despite the enormous growth in education provision and expenditure.· This change would not have been possible without the enormous growth of towns.· This is reflected in the enormous growth of micro usage in these areas and especially in the field of robotics.· As a result, the Internet is seeing enormous growth in the number of people and businesses using its services.· The extent of economic globalisation is illustrated by the recent enormous growth in trade and foreign capital flows.· They reveal an enormous growth in this sector.· So nitrate from the enormous growth in artificial fertiliser applications is rapidly leached away.· It is also a fact that the party has seen enormous growth in the polls lately.
· Unfortunately the book was completed too soon to reflect the enormous impact of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry on biology.· Christine's campaign has had enormous impact and we are proud that our report of it has had some impact too.· Either Mrs David has had an enormous impact on her countrymen or a major paradigm shift has occurred.· Both have had an enormous impact on me as a teacher.· When supercontinents break apart, they have an enormous impact on the volume of water the global oceans can hold.· Clearly, the publication of the General Theory in 1936 had an enormous impact on both economic theory and policy-making.· The fate of Father Damien in Hawaii had an enormous impact on Western thinking about leprosy.
· Of enormous importance, Holmes: all the hopes of modern medicine depend upon it.· First impressions are of enormous importance.· We should by now have demonstrated to your satisfaction the enormous importance of the process of settlement.· It is no exaggeration to say that these three introductions were of enormous importance to the future of the Army.· And this good nature has its own enormous importance.· Like him, I attach enormous importance to humanities research.· However the necessary skills within the body language component are also of enormous importance.
· In the early 1970s the concern was with the enormous increase in planning applications and planning appeals.· The rates for men showed enormous increases while those for women remained stable or rose very slowly.· In recent years there has been an enormous increase in the range and complexity of capital market instruments.· First, there has been an enormous increase in the pressure on the parks.· So the election produced an enormous increase in at least minimal awareness of local candidates.· There had been an enormous increase in the accuracy and destructiveness of all munitions, owing to the introduction of information technologies.· And the abiding memory of the eighties must be of the greatest achievement, the enormous increase in passenger traffic.· The enormous increase in broadcast hours is easy enough to observe.
· Culturally dominant and playing a pervasive role in the everyday life of élite and masses alike, it wielded enormous influence.· Avoidance of injury will have an enormous influence on the success of the tour.· Compared to this enormous influence of personal prejudice the influence of the media on economic perceptions was small but none the less significant.
· The implications of the work at Wharram Percy are of enormous interest for our understanding of how settlements and the landscape developed.· Firstly, the results of their work are of enormous interest in themselves.
· IIC.4 An enormous number of booklists was supplied.· Employers have the clearest and most direct channels of communication to enormous numbers of people.· I produce an enormous number of drafts of my stories, that is important.· We will still be left with an enormous number of kids who will not get the coverage they should have.· That 90 percent of women are afraid to go out alone at night represents enormous numbers of journeys avoided and trips foregone.· But an enormous number of homosexuals have clearly been recruited from the ranks of the physically normal.· Boxers fought an enormous number of contests by modern standards to satisfy a working-class public who wanted to see regular bouts.· It has enormous numbers of poor people and enormous numbers attaining some wealth.
· That 90 percent of women are afraid to go out alone at night represents enormous numbers of journeys avoided and trips foregone.· Employers have the clearest and most direct channels of communication to enormous numbers of people.· And the unhappy customer base stayed loyal in enormous numbers so that the company is now reaping the benefit.· It has enormous numbers of poor people and enormous numbers attaining some wealth.· In the case of bacteria, the enormous numbers of cells produced by successive doublings go their separate ways.· It has enormous numbers of poor people and enormous numbers attaining some wealth.· One view of the future of work is that large firms will not employ the enormous numbers of people they employ today.· Of course, some political awareness had begun to reach the airline industry, with its enormous numbers of women employees.
· In spite of her enormous popularity and the huge attraction she held for men throughout her life she remained incredibly insecure.· The Columbia program was enjoying enormous popularity because it offered the widest possible latitude both in studies and in its entrance requirements.· In the West its enormous popularity was as a love story set against the epic background of the Revolution and its aftermath.· These are all reasons for Schiffer's enormous popularity.· Rawlings's friends and foes alike say he survived only because of the enormous popularity with which he began his rule.· The museum authorities wanted the work removed after the filming was completed despite the statue's enormous popularity.· These, as they appeared one by one in the pages of the Strand Magazine, attracted enormous popularity.
· It's a lively and cosmopolitan resort, which as well as being scenic, offers enormous potential to the sports enthusiast.· The new generation of telecommunications holds enormous potential to serve the needs of democracy.· It will be appreciated that this technique of automated teaching seemed to have enormous potential.· It is a world unexplored by many-a new frontier in contemporary gastronomy with enormous potential.· A client of enormous potential if he managed to hook him.· This is largely because of its enormous potential for dating geological processes and sedimentary sequences.· Yet a walk into any delicatessen or a continental charcuterie will prove the enormous potential of this vastly underrated animal.· Assistant Principal, Joe Mooney sees enormous potential for the open learning format with foreign students.
· These developments concentrated enormous power in the hands of the individual on the throne.· And individuals with the ability to manipulate what is written about a public person have enormous power.· Modern technology is now so sophisticated the microprocessor-based design of the teleprinter gives it enormous power and flexibility.· The tail of the whale is a thing of beauty, grace and enormous power, Ishmael says.· Above all, covetousness has enormous power and potential to destroy.· Though the central banks wield enormous power, we should not overstate their ability to shape the economy in the long run.· The Duke of Marlborough wielded enormous power in the county.· This insight taught me something about the enormous power that is generated by desiring something very much.
· This puts enormous pressures on staff, who don't always have enough time to do the stock checking.· Parallel to the enormous pressure toward slimness runs the advertising of powerful interests who want to sell food.· All the universities today are under enormous pressure financially.· For some time now, the smokers of the world have been submitted to enormous pressure regarding their habit.· Pupils and staff were under enormous pressure.· This new and expanded role for employees will exert enormous pressures on employees and companies alike to invest in education and retraining.· Ironically, this new scientific perspective comes when young children and parents are under enormous pressure.· This puts enormous pressure on smaller practices'.
· This poses enormous problems for developing countries with severely limited educational resources, especially in the rural areas of those countries.· Feather pecking can be an enormous problem in all husbandry systems.· However, enormous problems remained: inflation remained high, unemployment was rising and many areas of production were at a standstill.· The proposed method of operation for the benefits system will cause enormous problems for families.· Up to the last minute the enormous problems of ammunition supply to the guns had not been overcome.· The Government keep changing the rules of the game, which creates enormous problems for local authorities.· The sheer timing would also have been an enormous problem.· This causes enormous problems, as the Q.A.L.Y. is so widely accepted, in trying to show that rehabilitation is a benefit.
· We also had with us an immensely heavy steel strongbox which contained enormous quantities of devalued lire.· The manufacture of aluminum as a commercial product requires enormous quantities of electric power.· He dumped an enormous quantity on top of the cereal which covered Rostov's plate.· Ten thousand birds and an equal number of chicks constitute an enormous quantity of meat.· He could hold in his motions for two weeks and then would pass an enormous quantity under great strain and pain.· I learned enormous quantities to say to myself in bed at night.
· There is an enormous range of colours available, from bright reds and yellows, through buffs and browns, to purplish-black.· You had to have an enormous range of talent, and the ability to make a joke about virtually anything.· An adapted television set and an ordinary telephone line link the Prestel customer to an enormous range of computer-held information.· Notice that the three forms of power described cover an enormous range of processes.· In contrast, certain tropical peoples grow an enormous range of plant species.· The kitchen was lovely, with an enormous range and an old-fashioned red-brick floor.· Three parallel conferences covering an enormous range of art historical material take place this year.· They cover an enormous range of religious, social, academic, political and cultural interests.
· His first response to the enormous success of Tubular Bells was to undergo a minor nervous breakdown.· The march has been an enormous success.· The meeting was an enormous success.· From No. v on it was an enormous success, and inaugurated monthly shilling numbers as a method of publishing new fiction.· The Soviet season, for example, was an enormous success.
· Virtually all Third World countries were Spending enormous sums on war or preparation for war, despite staggering debts and dreadful poverty.· Lawyers are really expert at making you pay enormous sums for their advice.
· Besides these there is an enormous variety of miscellaneous applications ranging from architectural models through elegant furniture to engineering components.· There is enormous variety to this public-interest assignment.· Among the enormous varieties of weaving patterns, there are two that we must pay particular attention to.· Upon the balance between them depends the enormous variety of societies seen in the animal kingdom.· Within each river there are an enormous variety of habitats and this causes fish populations to assume highly localised distributions.· Three basic pieces of equipment will enable you to perform an enormous variety of exercises to improve your physique or figure.· Over that time, it must have been cooked in an enormous variety of ways.· Take advantage of the enormous variety of fruit now to be found in the shops.
WORD FAMILYnounenormityadjectiveenormousadverbenormously
very big in size or in amount SYN huge: an enormous bunch of flowers an enormous amount of money The team made an enormous effort.► see thesaurus at bigGRAMMAREnormous is not used with ‘very’. You say: · Their garden is absolutely enormous. ✗Don’t say: Their garden is very enormous.Grammar guide ‒ ADJECTIVES