prodigious
English
Etymology
From Middle French prodigieux, from Latin prōdigiōsus (“unnatural, strange, wonderful, marvelous”), from prōdigium (“an omen, portent, monster”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɹəˈdɪd͡ʒəs/
- Rhymes: -ɪdʒəs
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
prodigious (comparative more prodigious, superlative most prodigious)
- Very big in size or quantity; gigantic; colossal; huge.
- 1749, [John Cleland], Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: Printed [by Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], OCLC 731622352:
- Its prodigious size made me shrink again; yet I could not, without pleasure, behold, and even ventur'd to feel, such a length, such a breadth of animated ivory!
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- Extraordinarily exciting or amazing.
- (obsolete) Ominous, portentous.
- Monstrous; freakish.
Synonyms
- gigantic, colossal, huge, enormous; See also Thesaurus:gigantic
- amazing
- ominous, portentous
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
gigantic or huge
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amazing
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Further reading
- prodigious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- prodigious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- prodigious at OneLook Dictionary Search
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