immense

immense — adjective

1. much larger or more serious than what people usually experience or expect — used

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

much larger or more serious than what people usually experience or expect — used to describe physical size, amount, importance, or impact

Example

The new public library in Kaohsiung is immense — it holds more than two million books.

predicative use: be + immense

Rebuilding the fishing village after the typhoon required an immense amount of time and money.

collocation: immense amount of + noun

Common collocations
  • immense size
  • immense amount
  • immense number
  • immense scale
  • immense pressure
  • immense relief
  • immense importance
  • immense popularity
  • immense wealth
Synonyms
  • huge

    the most common everyday alternative; similar strength but less formal

  • enormous

    slightly stronger than huge; suggests something shockingly large

  • vast

    used especially for areas, distances, or abstract scope (vast knowledge)

  • colossal

    dramatic and emphatic; often used for failures or disasters

Antonyms
  • tiny

    opposite in everyday use for size

  • minuscule

    formal opposite; suggests something extremely small

Grammar Patterns

immense + noun

be + immense

Usage Note

Can describe both concrete physical size (an immense building) and abstract degree (immense importance). Common in both attributive position (before a noun) and predicative position (after a linking verb like 'be', 'feel', 'seem'). Avoid pairing with 'very' — immense already expresses a high degree.

Common Mistakes

The building was very immense.
The building was immense.
immense already means 'extremely large'; adding 'very' is redundant.
There was an immense of food.
There was an immense amount of food.
immense is an adjective, not a quantifier; use 'immense amount / number of'.

2. so enjoyable, impressive, or excellent that it stands out — often used in everyd

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

so enjoyable, impressive, or excellent that it stands out — often used in everyday speech to express strong approval of an experience, performance, or thing

Example

The dinner Beatrix cooked was immense — everyone at the table asked for the recipe.

predicative use for informal approval

Ramón said the concert was absolutely immense and worth seeing again.

collocation: absolutely immense for emphasis

Common collocations
  • absolutely immense
  • truly immense
  • simply immense
Synonyms
  • fantastic

    widely used informal alternative; natural in both British and American English

  • brilliant

    common in British English; slightly less strong than immense

  • incredible

    emphatic and common across all varieties

Antonyms
  • terrible

    direct opposite for experiences or quality

  • awful

    common informal antonym

Grammar Patterns

be + immense

sound / look / feel + immense

Usage Note

Chiefly informal in this sense. Common in British and Australian English but less frequent in American English. Often used with intensifiers such as 'absolutely' or 'truly'. Avoid in formal writing or academic contexts.

Common Mistakes

The candidate's qualifications were immense.' (in a formal job reference)
The candidate's qualifications were outstanding.
immense meaning 'extremely good' is too informal for professional writing.
I got an immense score on the test.
I got a great score on the test.
immense is unnatural in this context unless you are deliberately using informal British slang.

Word family

  • immensely
    adverbB2
  • immensity
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe something impressively large, but they differ in typical use. Huge is the most common and neutral — it fits almost any situation ('a huge meal', 'a huge difference'). Enormous carries a hint of surprise or shock at the scale ('an enormous elephant', 'an enormous mistake'). Vast emphasises breadth and scope, especially of areas or abstract concepts ('vast plains', 'vast knowledge') and is rarely used for physical objects you can hold. Colossal is the most dramatic and literary, often applied to failures, disasters, or ambitious projects ('a colossal statue', 'a colossal waste of money'). In everyday conversation, huge is the safest choice; in writing about geography or data, vast is preferred; and for strong emotional effect, enormous or colossal work well.

huge ↗enormous ↗vast ↗colossal

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • quite immense
  • truly immense
  • simply immense

Phrases

  • of immense proportions
  • of immense value
  • of immense importance

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Immense comes from the Latin word immensus, formed from 'im-' (meaning 'not') and 'mensus' (meaning 'measured'). So the original sense was 'not measurable' or 'boundless' — something so large it could not be measured. It entered English through French in the 1400s, and by the 1600s it was being used in its modern sense of 'extremely large'. The informal sense 'extremely good' developed in British English during the late 1900s.