tre ‧ men ‧ dous S2 /trɪˈmendəs/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: tremendus , from tremere ; ⇨ ↑ tremble ]
1 . very big, fast, powerful etc:
Suddenly, there was a tremendous bang, and the whole station shook.
She was making a tremendous effort to appear calm.
She praised her husband for the tremendous support he had given her.
Sales have been tremendous so far this year.
This plan could save us a tremendous amount of money.
2 . excellent:
She’s got a tremendous voice, hasn’t she?
—tremendously adverb :
tremendously wealthy
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THESAURUS
■ very big
▪ huge/massive/enormous extremely big:
The table was enormous.
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a huge explosion
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Their house is huge.
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There is a huge amount of work to be done.
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There has been a massive increase in oil prices.
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The company is massive, operating in 150 countries.
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A massive fire destroyed more than thirty homes.
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He’s been under an enormous amount of stress recently.
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The changes will have an enormous impact.
▪ great [only before noun] very big – used especially to describe the level or number of something:
He achieved great success in America.
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The college offers a great number of courses.
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a great advantage
▪ vast extremely big – used about areas, distances, numbers, or amounts:
vast areas of rainforest
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A vast number of tourists visit the island every year.
▪ gigantic extremely big and much bigger than other things of the same type:
Gigantic waves crashed onto the beach.
▪ colossal extremely big – used about amounts or objects:
James ran up a colossal phone bill.
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a colossal statue of Napoleon
▪ tremendous having an extremely big effect:
There have been some tremendous changes.
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My new job will be a tremendous challenge.
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The children were making a tremendous amount of noise.