massive
/ˈmæs.ɪv/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.72 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Substantial in mass; bulky, heavy and solid.
adj
Example Sentences
- "Compared to its counterparts from World War II, the Abrams main battle tank is truly massive."
- "The Enlightenment involved massive shifts in many areas of Western thought."
- "Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion.""
- "Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete."
- "A massive comet or asteroid appears to have ended the era of the dinosaurs."
- "But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either."
Etymology
From Middle English massif, from Middle French massif, equivalent to mass + -ive. The Irish sense is possibly derived from Irish mas (“fine, handsome”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmæs.ɪv/
- British English: /ˈmæs.ɪv/