Dictionary

capacious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /kəˈpeɪʃəs/

Etymology

From Latin capāx (“wide, spacious, large; capable”) + -ious. Displaced native Old English numol.

Meanings

1. Having a lot of space inside; roomy.
   • ‘There’s rummer things than women in this world though, mind you,’ said the man with the black eye, slowly filling a large Dutch pipe, with a most capacious bowl. 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Comprising a brief Description of the Company at the Peacock assembled; and a Tale told by a Bagman”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:
   • The Malabar, that huge sea monster, in whose capacious belly so many human creatures lived and suffered, had dwindled to a walnut-shell, and yet beside her bulk how infinitely small had their own frail cockboat appeared as they shot out from under her towering stern! 1874, Marcus Clarke, chapter V, in For the Term of His Natural Life:
   • The only outfit I could conjure up was a capacious linen shift and a saggy cotton-wool cardigan. 2025 July 7, Annie Lowrey, “I Fought Plastic. Plastic Won.”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN:
   • I turnd my thoughts, and with capacious mind / Conſiderd all things viſible in Heav'n 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC:
   • “Do I fidget you ?” he asked apologetically, whilst his long bony fingers buried themselves, string, knots, and all, into the capacious pockets of his magnificent tweed ulster. 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], chapter 1, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
   • Profitable operation is being made possible by the widespread introduction of capacious diesel railcars, which for their comfort and speed are very popular with the travelling public. 1953 April, “Reviving U.S.A. Passenger Traffic”, in Railway Magazine, page 218:
   • There comes an end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to my evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul. 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 130:
2. (figuratively) Capable, able.
   • As you will read, Trump himself has a capacious understanding of his power. 2025 April 28, Jeffrey Goldberg, “Signalgate, Trump, and The Atlantic”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN:
   • [T]he fresh brave school-life, so full of games, adventures, and good fellowship, so ready at forgetting, so capacious at enjoying, so bright at forecasting, outweighed a thousandfold their troubles with the master of their form, and the occasional ill-usage of the big boys in the house. 1857, [Thomas Hughes], “The War of Independence”, in Tom Brown’s School Days. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 185:

Forms

Deriveds

capaciousness · uncapacious · incapacious · capaciously

Relateds

capacity · capable

Synonyms

voluminous · commodious · ample · roomy · spacious

Translations (37)

uk просто́рий (having a lot of space inside) · kmr fireh (having a lot of space inside) · pt espaçoso (having a lot of space inside) · ang numol (having a lot of space inside) · fi pätevä (capable, able) · es espacioso (having a lot of space inside) · fr capace (having a lot of space inside) · ru объёмистый (having a lot of space inside) · de geräumig (having a lot of space inside) · ru просто́рный (having a lot of space inside) · la capāx (having a lot of space inside) · ru вмести́тельный (having a lot of space inside) · el ευρύχωρος (having a lot of space inside) · fi tilava (having a lot of space inside) · cmn 能幹的 /能干的 (capable, able) · fi osaava (capable, able) · ar مُتَّسِع (having a lot of space inside) · uk містки́й (having a lot of space inside) · pl pakowny (having a lot of space inside) · pl pojemny (having a lot of space inside) · cmn 寬敞的 /宽敞的 (having a lot of space inside) · sv rymlig (having a lot of space inside) · sv spatiös (having a lot of space inside) · nb rommelig (having a lot of space inside) · pl kompetentny (capable, able) · it capace (having a lot of space inside) · nl ruim (having a lot of space inside) · pl sprawny (capable, able) · pl przestronny (having a lot of space inside) · mi ngakengake (having a lot of space inside) · da rummelig (having a lot of space inside) · bg просторен (having a lot of space inside) · bg обемист (having a lot of space inside) · pl obszerny (having a lot of space inside) · ru ёмкий (having a lot of space inside) · fi kykenevä (capable, able) · ga dea-láin (having a lot of space inside)