gargantuan

adjective

gar·​gan·​tuan gär-ˈgan(t)-sh(ə-)wən How to pronounce gargantuan (audio)
often capitalized
: tremendous in size, volume, or degree : gigantic, colossal
gargantuan waterfalls

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Gargantua is the name of a giant king in François Rabelais's 16th-century satiric novel Gargantua, the second part of a five-volume series about the giant and his son Pantagruel. All of the details of Gargantua's life befit a giant. He rides a colossal mare whose tail switches so violently that it fells the entire forest of Orleans. He has an enormous appetite, such that in one incident he inadvertently swallows five pilgrims while eating a salad. The scale of everything connected with Gargantua led to the adjective gargantuan, which since William Shakespeare's time has been used for anything of tremendous size or volume.

Examples of gargantuan in a Sentence

a creature of gargantuan proportions people seem to be buying ever more gargantuan SUVs these days
Recent Examples on the Web
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The Trump administration’s desire to make Greenland part of the US has caused considerable consternation among the Indigenous population of just 57,000 people—though this isn’t the first time that America has made a bid for ownership of this gargantuan Arctic landmass. Rob Crossan, JSTOR Daily, 10 Feb. 2025 Chinese e-commerce sites have built their gargantuan business models around this exemption. Ramishah Maruf, CNN, 7 Feb. 2025 Like a gargantuan concrete building, what can start out impressive can crumble as time goes by. Anthony Paletta, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Feb. 2025 So when a disaster does occur, its price tag adds up to a gargantuan number. Umair Irfan, Vox, 5 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for gargantuan 

Word History

Etymology

Gargantua

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gargantuan was in 1596

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Dictionary Entries Near gargantuan

Cite this Entry

“Gargantuan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gargantuan. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

gargantuan

adjective
gar·​gan·​tuan gär-ˈganch-wən How to pronounce gargantuan (audio)
-ə-wən
: extraordinary in size, degree, or volume : gigantic
Etymology

from Gargantua, a giant with an enormous appetite in books by the French author François Rabelais

More from Merriam-Webster on gargantuan

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