Dictionary

gargantuan en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ɡaːˈɡæn.t͡ʃʉ.ən/ (Australia)
• /ɡɑɹˈɡæn.t͡ʃu.ən/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ɡɑːˈɡæn.t͡ʃu.ən/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From French Gargantua, a giant with a very large appetite in Rabelais's The Inestimable Life of Gargantua. Rabelais derived Gargantua from the Portuguese and Spanish garganta (“throat”).

Meanings

1. Huge; immense; tremendous.
   • Or the twinkling dining rooms: all frilly net curtains, pink walls, kaleidoscope-patterned carpets and tiny tables, crammed with teetering piles of hand-painted ceramic crockery (think plates covered in colorful swirls and cocktail mugs shaped like heaving bosoms or ladies’ faces) that showcase gargantuan portions of Italian fare. 2019 September 14, Elizabeth Paton, “A Fashion/Food Blowout in the Shadow of Brexit”, in New York Times:
   • Some distant observers of the Scottish football scene reckon that all - all! - Gerrard has to do is beat Celtic to become a legend. Even if that was true - and, demonstrably, it is not - then it would be a gargantuan task all on its own. 2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport:
   • Boxy and unrefined, the Hummer embodied an outlandishly masculine aesthetic that seemed to almost revel in its gargantuan fuel consumption. 2022 April 7, Oliver Milman, “I test-drove the all-electric Hummer. Can it win over America’s EV skeptics?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
2. (obsolete) Of the giant Gargantua or his appetite.

Forms

Deriveds

gargantuanism · ginormagantuan · gargantuanness · gargantuanly · supergargantuan · hypergargantuan

Synonyms

leviathan · Brobdingnagian · massive · mammoth · giant · wide · gargantuan · considerable · great big · broad · hulking · boxcar · sizeable · astronomic · mastodonic · humongous · tall · liberal · Pythonic · stupendous · substantial · hefty · immane · full · nonstandard)) · grand · larger than life · rotund · yuge · tremendous · hunormous · hench · pantagruelian · good-sized · jumbo · ginormous · huge · big fat · generous · enormous · overlarge · immense · colossal · honkin' · oversized · enormous · mahoosive · pyramidal · gigantuan (colloquial · oversize · monumental · great · supersized · long · outsized · bodacious · cosmic · mountainous · whopping · Daniel Lambertish · spacious · colossal · exceeding · cyclopean · super- · stonking · giantesque · gigantesque · behemothic · vast · elephantic · monstrous · roomy · giant · voluminous · ample · titanic · bulky · mega- · prodigious · expansive · huge · immense · humongous · gigantic · commodious · big · elephantine · largifical

Translations (44)

id luar biasa (huge) · kn ರಾಕ್ಷಸಾಕಾರದ (huge) · ro enorm (huge) · it gigantesco (huge) · ro uriaș (huge) · ja ガルガンチュワの (of the giant Gargantua or his appetite) · et hiiglaslik (huge) · et hiigelsuur (huge) · kn ದೈತ್ಯಾಕಾರದ (huge) · ja 巨大な (huge) · id besar (huge) · ja 膨大な (huge) · da enorm (huge) · ro gargantuesc (of the giant Gargantua or his appetite) · ro imens (huge) · da gigantisk (huge) · de gigantisch (huge) · pl gigantyczny (huge) · es agigantado (huge) · it gargantuesco (huge) · kn ಬೃಹದಾಕಾರದ (huge) · fi valtava (huge) · fi jättiläismäinen (huge) · kn ವಿಪರೀತ (huge) · kn ದೊಡ್ಡ (huge) · id raksasa (huge) · fr gargantuesque (of the giant Gargantua or his appetite) · es descomunal (huge) · fi suunnaton (huge) · ja 夥しい (huge) · sv enorm (huge) · ro colosal (huge) · hu óriási (huge) · pl gargantuiczny (huge) · it gargantuesco (of the giant Gargantua or his appetite) · hu rettentő nagy (huge) · nl immens (huge) · ru гига́нтский (huge) · ml വളരെ വലിയ (huge) · fi jättimäinen (huge) · pl gargantuiczny (of the giant Gargantua or his appetite) · fr gargantuesque (huge) · sv gigantisk (huge) · mk гига́нтски (huge)

wikipedia: François Rabelais · wikipedia: Gargantua and Pantagruel