English Explanatory Dictionary

enormity

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Deviation from what is normal or standard; irregularity, abnormality.
  2. Deviation from moral normality; extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty.
  3. A breach of law or morality; a transgression, an act of evil or wickedness.
  4. Great size; enormousness, hugeness, immenseness.

Pronunciation

/ɪˈnɔːmɪti/ /ɪˈnoɹmɪti/ [-ɾi] en-au-enormity.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-Enormity.wav

Word forms

enormity enormities

Etymology

From Late Middle English ēnorme (“monstrous or unnatural act; enormity”), from Old French énormité (“enormity”), from Latin ēnormitās (“irregularity; enormity”), from ēnōrmis (“irregular, unusual; enormous, immense”) + -itās (suffix forming nouns indicating states of being). Ēnōrmis is derived from e- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘out; away’) + nōrma (“norm, standard”) + -is (Latin suffix forming adjectives from nouns).

Synonyms

oddness weirdness depravity immorality anomalousness atrociousness desecration violation ginormity size bigness bulk largeness magnitude scale immensity prodigiousness

Related words

enormous enormously enormousness norm normative normatively normativity
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on E Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary