colossal

From French colossal, formed from Latin colossus, from Ancient Greek κολοσσός (kolossós, “giant statue”).

• IPA^(key): /kəˈlɒsəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

colossal (comparative more colossal, superlative most colossal)

1. Extremely large or on a great scale.
   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

   A single puppy can make a colossal mess.

   • 2017 April 23, John Oliver, “Ivanka & Jared”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 10, HBO:

     What is wrong with you, you colossal fucking creep⁉ You found the only possible wrong answer to that question! “What’s your favorite color? Hitler.”

• (extremely large): enormous, giant, gigantic, immense, prodigious, vast
• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

• colosseum
• colossus

Formed from Latin colossus, from Ancient Greek κολοσσός (kolossós) (originally used by Herodotus in reference to statues in ancient Egyptian temples).

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.lɔ.sal/

• audio

  (file)

colossal (feminine singular colossale, masculine plural colossaux, feminine plural colossales)

1. colossal, huge

• “colossal” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From colosso +‎ -al.

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌko.lo.ˈsaw/

colossal m or f (plural colossais, comparable)

1. colossal (extremely large)

• gigante, enorme