Synonym Chooser

How is the word gigantic distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of gigantic are colossal, enormous, huge, immense, mammoth, and vast. While all these words mean "exceedingly large," gigantic stresses the contrast with the size of others of the same kind.

a gigantic sports stadium

When is colossal a more appropriate choice than gigantic?

The words colossal and gigantic can be used in similar contexts, but colossal applies especially to a human creation of stupendous or incredible dimensions.

a colossal statue of Lincoln

How do enormous and immense relate to one another, in the sense of gigantic?

Enormous and immense both suggest an exceeding of all ordinary bounds in size or amount or degree, but enormous often adds an implication of abnormality or monstrousness.

an enormous expense
an immense shopping mall

When might huge be a better fit than gigantic?

While the synonyms huge and gigantic are close in meaning, huge commonly suggests an immensity of bulk or amount.

incurred a huge debt

When could mammoth be used to replace gigantic?

While in some cases nearly identical to gigantic, mammoth suggests both hugeness and ponderousness of bulk.

a mammoth boulder

When can vast be used instead of gigantic?

In some situations, the words vast and gigantic are roughly equivalent. However, vast usually suggests immensity of extent.

the vast Russian steppes

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gigantic Brave New World introduces adamantium to the MCU (the indestructible metal that coats Wolverine’s bones and claws), acknowledges that there’s a gigantic celestial corpse in the ocean, and sees the new Captain America figure out his own path. Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2025 The gigantic server-class motherboard is based on the Intel C741 chipset. PCMAG, 17 Feb. 2025 That was Radner—the tiny woman with the gigantic hair having more fun than everybody around her. Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 15 Feb. 2025 Yet at the same time this is a world with a fly Captain America with vibranium wings, and a gigantic Red Hulk. Justin Kroll, Deadline, 14 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for gigantic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gigantic
Adjective
  • The 27-track album became a huge catalyst for the recent spotlight on Black country artists and the genre's roots.
    Caché McClay, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2025
  • City faces Liverpool in a huge game in the Premier League on Sunday.
    Jamie Barton, CNN, 20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • There are spells, curses, vendettas, a twist villain, giant dragons who turn into humanoid warriors and many other creatures populating the world of this gargantuan feat of eye-popping computer animation.
    Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 2 Mar. 2025
  • The pair re-teamed at the Academy Awards the following year for the broadcast’s introductory sketch, which featured Palance dragging a giant Oscar statue onstage, with Crystal (again the host) riding it.
    Jordan Runtagh, People.com, 2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Trump demanded $500 billion in Ukraine's minerals as repayment for U.S. assistance, but Zelenskyy retorted that American aid hasn't come close to that enormous figure.
    Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY, 25 Feb. 2025
  • Lower fertility rates seem correlated with the perception that proper child development depends upon enormous amounts of personal attention.
    Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Of course, the vast majority of these conscious-community figures aren’t leading cults, breaking laws, or condoning anyone who is, but there’s an openness to unconventional beliefs and conspiracy theories that the more predatory characters take advantage of.
    David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2025
  • For much of her life, our writer consumed vast quantities of sugar every day.
    Emily Baumgaertner Nunn, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The Senate's version would break it up into two pieces for the sake of speed, and the House's version would wrap it into one massive package in the hopes of squeezing it through their narrow Republican majority.
    Riley Beggin, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2025
  • The guys wrapped their massive The Last Goodbye tour last July, with the run (named for their 2022 album) spanning 54 shows at 48 venues throughout North America, including headlining sets at festivals like Governors Ball and Bonnaroo.
    Katie Bain, Billboard, 21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Of course, Cena vs. Rhodes sounds like a tremendous WrestleMania main event on paper, too, a bout that WWE fans would be easily invested in given how popular Cena and Rhodes have been at their peaks.
    Blake Oestriecher, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
  • This is a time of tremendous grief and pain for those who knew and loved him.
    Caroline Frost, Deadline, 2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • There is a mutual readiness to work to restore relations and gradually solve a colossal amount of systemic strategic problems in the global architecture.
    Dan Perry, Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Today’s state-of-the-art LLMs, capable of generating text, writing codes and analyzing data, rely on colossal infrastructure for training, storage and inference.
    Gerui Wang, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The film, which has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, centers on the efforts of fictional protagonist László Tóth to realize a mammoth, bunkerlike, concrete structure that will house a community center in Pennsylvania.
    Michael Allen, The Conversation, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Like Amazon, which used its perch in e-commerce to build a powerhouse cloud computing business, Walmart has taken advantage of its mammoth retail base to grow with e-commerce, add on an advertising business and collect more dollars from membership programs.
    Evan Clark, WWD, 27 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Gigantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gigantic. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.

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