tremendous

tremendous — adjective

1. so large, powerful, or admirable in quality that it surprises you or makes you f

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

so large, powerful, or admirable in quality that it surprises you or makes you feel impressed

Example

Jisoo felt tremendous relief when she heard that her mother had recovered.

collocation: tremendous relief — strong emotional release

The fundraiser was a tremendous success, raising over fifty thousand dollars.

collocation: tremendous success — with a specific result

Common collocations
  • tremendous relief
  • tremendous success
  • tremendous effort
  • tremendous applause
  • tremendous amount
  • tremendous difference
  • tremendous impact
  • tremendous pressure
  • tremendous progress
Synonyms
  • enormous

    focuses on physical size or scale; more neutral in tone and slightly more formal

  • immense

    suggests even greater scale; more literary, less common in everyday speech

  • terrific

    similar strength but more informal; often used for quality rather than size

  • colossal

    emphasises extraordinary size; slightly dramatic or journalistic in tone

Antonyms
  • tiny

    describes something very small in size or amount, the opposite of tremendous in scale

  • insignificant

    describes something too small or unimportant to be noticed, opposite of tremendous in impact

Usage Note

Tremendous is stronger than big or good — it adds a sense of surprise, admiration, or being impressed. Common in both informal conversation (That meal was tremendous!) and formal writing (a tremendous achievement).

Common Mistakes

There is a tremendous different between the two plans.
There is a tremendous difference between the two plans.
'difference' is the noun form; 'different' is an adjective.
The soup tasted tremendous good.
The soup tasted tremendous.' or 'The soup was tremendously good.
'tremendous' is an adjective; use 'tremendously' as an adverb.

Word family

  • tremendously
    adverbB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Tremendous is a broad intensifier that works for both size and quality, often with a tone of admiration or surprise. Enormous is the closest neutral equivalent but leans towards physical size (an enormous building vs. a tremendous opportunity). Immense suggests a boundary-less scale and is more literary (immense pressure, immense gratitude). Colossal is more dramatic and journalistic, often used for disasters or achievements (a colossal failure, a colossal statue). Terrific overlaps with tremendous mainly on the 'excellent quality' side but is more informal and less natural for physical size (terrific news, but not ??? a terrific building). Choose tremendous when you want to express both scale and emotional impact; use enormous for neutral large size, and immense for abstract vastness.

enormous ↗immense ↗colossalterrific ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a tremendous amount of
  • make a tremendous difference

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Tremendous comes from the Latin word tremendus, meaning 'frightening' or 'causing terror,' from tremere (to tremble). In English it originally described something so terrifying it made you tremble (e.g., a tremendous storm). Over time the fear faded and the word became a general intensifier for anything impressively large or excellent.