stupendous

Etymology

First attested from 1547, from Late Latin stupendus (“stunning, amazing”), from Latin stupere (“to be stunned”). See also stupid.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛndəs

Adjective

stupendous (comparative more stupendous, superlative most stupendous)

1. Astonishingly great or large; huge; enormous.

   One cannot appreciate how stupendous the Matterhorn is without seeing it.

2. Of stunning volume, degree, or excellence; marvelous.

   The renovator created a stupendous new look for our house.

   • 2008, Philip Roth, Indignation:

     The sheer unimaginableness of coming into her mouth — of coming into anything other than the air or a tissue or a dirty sock — was an allurement too stupendous for a novice to forswear.

Trivia

One of four common words ending in -dous, which are hazardous, horrendous, stupendous, and tremendous.^[1]

References

• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.