tremendous

English

Etymology

From Latin tremendus (“fearful, terrible”), gerundive of tremō (“to tremble”), + -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɹɪˈmɛndəs/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /tɹəˈmɛndəs/
• Rhymes: -ɛndəs
• Hyphenation: tre‧men‧dous

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Adjective

tremendous (comparative more tremendous, superlative most tremendous)

1. Awe-inspiring; terrific.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     This she spoke with so commanding an air, standing with her back to the fire, with one hand behind her, and a pinch of snuff in the other, that I question whether Thalestris, at the head of her Amazons, ever made a more tremendous figure.

2. Notable for its size, power, or excellence.

   Van Beethoven's ninth symphony is a tremendous piece of music.

3. Extremely large (in amount, extent, degree, etc.) or great

   There was a tremendous outpouring of support.

   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 113:

     The tremendous tragedy in which he had been involved - it was evident he was a fugitive from Weybridge - had driven him to the very verge of his reason.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:large

Derived terms

• tremendously
• tremendousness

Translations

awe-inspiring

• Bulgarian: страхотен (bg) (strahoten)
• Catalan: tremend (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 令人敬畏的；令人惊叹/惊异的

• Dutch: ontzagwekkend (nl)
• Finnish: hämmästyttävä (fi), mahtava (fi)
• French: formidable (fr)
• Italian: formidabile (it), tremendo (it)
• Portuguese: tremendo, formidável (pt)
• Russian: восхити́тельный (ru) (vosxitítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: tremendo (es)

notable for size, power or excellence

• Armenian: ահռելի (hy) (ahṙeli)
• Bulgarian: впечатляващ (bg) (vpečatljavašt)
• Czech: obdivuhodný
• Finnish: valtava (fi), mahtava (fi), upea (fi)
• Hebrew: עָצוּם (he) m ('atzúm)
• Italian: eccellente (it)
• Portuguese: tremendo, formidável (pt)
• Russian: выдаю́щийся (ru) (vydajúščijsja)
• Spanish: tremendo (es)

extremely large (in amount, extent, degree etc.) or great; enormous; extraordinary

• Armenian: ահռելի (hy) (ahṙeli)
• Bulgarian: огромен (bg) (ogromen), грамаден (bg) (gramaden)
• Dutch: geweldig (nl)
• Finnish: valtava (fi), suunnaton (fi), loistava (fi), mahtava (fi), erinomainen (fi)
• French: énorme (fr)
• German: beträchtlich (de), außerordentlich (de)
• Italian: straordinario (it), enorme (it)
• Japanese: 莫大 (ja) (bakudai)
• Portuguese: tremendo, enorme (pt)
• Russian: огромный (ru) (ogromnyj) (large or great) громадный (ru) (gromadnyj) (large), неисчисляемый (neisčisljajemyj) (uncountable), неизмеряемый (neizmerjajemyj) (unmeasurable), очень сильный (očenʹ silʹnyj) (great = strong = having effect), великий (ru) (velikij) (great; rare), etc. - extremely large; огромный (ru) (ogromnyj), высочайший (vysočajšij) (very high - speed, degree, probability etc.); экстраординарный (ru) (ekstraordinarnyj)
• Spanish: tremendo (es)
• Swedish: enorm (sv), oerhörd (sv)

Trivia

One of four common words ending in -dous, which are hazardous, horrendous, stupendous, and tremendous.