TREMENDOUS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tremendous mean? 

• TREMENDOUS (adjective)
  The adjective TREMENDOUS has 3 senses:

1. extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree

2. extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers

3. extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact

  Familiarity information: TREMENDOUS used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TREMENDOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree

Synonyms:

enormous; tremendous

Context example:

a plane took off with a tremendous noise

Similar:

big; large (above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers

Synonyms:

fantastic; grand; howling; marvellous; marvelous; rattling; terrific; tremendous; wonderful; wondrous

Context example:

a tremendous achievement

Similar:

extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact

Synonyms:

awful; frightful; terrible; tremendous

Context example:

spent a frightful amount of money

Similar:

extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

He threw his strength into one tremendous jerk.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It gave him a tremendous advantage over his antagonists.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

And I've got a tremendous will, have I?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“This is due to the fact that there are tremendous obstacles: identifying suitable catalysts and reactions and, above all, delivering the catalysts directly into the target cells, and not others.”

(Scientists successfully deliver “Trojan horse” catalysts into cancerous tumour cells to destroy them from within, Universities of Granada)

When I think of the play of force and matter, and all the tremendous struggle of it, I feel as if I could write an epic on the grass.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Subsequent studies on mice verified the tremendous potential of this polyacrylate.

(Scientists design a new hydrogel that helps regenerate cartilage, University of Granada)

I understood him to add that she was parting amidships, and I could readily suppose so, for the rolling and beating were too tremendous for any human work to suffer long.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Despite the obstacles, astronomers were confident that finding such a signal would be possible, thanks to previous research indicating that the first stars released tremendous amounts of ultraviolet (UV) light.

(Astronomers detect ancient signal from first stars in universe, National Science Foundation)

And when he had said that, two great black cats came with one tremendous leap and sat down on each side of him, and looked savagely at him with their fiery eyes.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Despite tremendous interest in microplastics, we are just beginning to understand the scale and effects of these ocean contaminants, said Dan Thornhill, a program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences.

(Microplastics million times more abundant in the ocean than previously thought, National Science Foundation)