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Gargantua is the name of a giant king in François Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua, the second part of a five-volume series about the giant and his son Pantagruel. All of the details of Gargantua's life befit a giant. He rides a colossal mare whose tail switches so violently that it fells the entire forest of Orleans. He has an enormous appetite, such that in one incident he inadvertently swallows five pilgrims while eating a salad. The scale of everything connected with Gargantua led to the adjective gargantuan, which since William Shakespeare's time has been used for anything of tremendous size or volume.
Examples of gargantuan in a Sentence
Ryan Whitwam, Ars Technica, 24 Feb. 2025
As a cursed vampire hunter equipped initially with only a whip, the player was cast perilously in Dracula’s gargantuan mansion.
—Lewis Gordon, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Still, these are still test flights for the gargantuan rocket; its path to operational missions is one of increasing scrutiny as mission dates in need of Starship's capabilities gradually near.
—Josh Dinner, Space.com, 13 Feb. 2025
Complementing a more traditional gallery display, the retrospective also features an outdoor component where portraits of subjects ranging from Samuel L. Jackson to Miley Cyrus, enlarged to gargantuan proportions, have been mounted in 700-pound frames that spin with wind, braving the elements.
—David Foxley, Architectural Digest, 10 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Gargantuan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gargantuan. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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gargantuan
adjective
from Gargantua, a giant with an enormous appetite in books by the French author François Rabelais
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