colossal
- Extremely large or huge, much bigger than normal.
- Used to describe something very great in degree, like a colossal mistake.
In a sentence
- The explorers stood at the base of a colossal mountain that seemed to disappear into the clouds.
- Forgetting to save his school project before the computer crashed was a colossal mistake.
Usage note. 'Colossal' carries a stronger punch than simply saying 'big' or 'large,' so save it for things that are truly impressive or extreme in size.
Where it comes from
English colossal · entered English early 18th c.
From Latin 'colosseus,' meaning gigantic, which itself came from Greek 'kolossós,' referring to a giant statue — most famously the Colossus of Rhodes. The word entered English in the early 18th century, around the 1700s. It is directly tied to the image of an overwhelmingly large monument.