momentous
/moʊˈmɛn.təs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.11 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Outstanding in importance, of great consequence.
Example Sentences
- "The reason why I did not publish this book till the end of the last sessions of parliament was, because I did not care to interfere with more momentous affairs."
- ""It has been a momentous month, and I hope we shall all retain healthful recollections of it as long as we live.""
- "What to the other parties was merely the sale of a ship was to him a momentous event involving a radically new view of existence."
- "The last train ran on December 31, 1932, almost unnoticed, for it coincided with the running of the last steam passenger train down the main line from London to Brighton, a much more momentous event."
- "Natural selection is arguably the most momentous idea ever to occur to a human mind, because it — alone as far as we know — explains the elegant illusion of design that pervades the living kingdoms and explains, in passing, us."
Etymology
Etymology tree English moment Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous English momentous From moment (“weight, importance”) + -ous.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /moʊˈmɛn.təs/
- British English: /məʊˈmɛn.təs/
Inflected Forms
more momentous (comparative)
most momentous (superlative)