Standard Lemma guide

enormity

noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈnɔːmɪti/
  • General-American: /ɪˈnoɹmɪti/
  • General-American: [-ɾi]
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 N AO1 R M AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: IY0 N AO1 R M AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Deviation from what is normal or standard; irregularity, abnormality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Deviation from moral normality; extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Not until the war ended and journalists were able to enter Cambodia did the world really become aware of the enormity of Pol Pot’s oppression.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A breach of law or morality; a transgression, an act of evil or wickedness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Great size; enormousness, hugeness, immenseness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: proscribed, sometimes, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ginormity, size, bigness, bulk, largeness, magnitude, scale

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

an act of extreme wickedness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: atrocity, inhumanity

6

noun

Meaning 6

the quality of extreme wickedness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: nefariousness, wickedness, vileness, ugliness

7

noun

Meaning 7

the quality of being outrageous

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: outrageousness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: indecency

8

noun

Meaning 8

vastness of size or extent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • in careful usage the noun enormity is not used to express the idea of great size
  • universities recognized the enormity of their task

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: enormousness, grandness, greatness, immenseness, immensity, sizeableness, vastness, wideness

History

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).

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: чудовищност (čudovištnost) — extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty
  • Galician: enormidade — extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty
  • Latin: immānitās — extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty
  • Portuguese: enormidade — extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty
  • Romanian: enormitate — extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty
  • Spanish: perversidad — extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty
  • Spanish: enormidad — extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty
  • Catalan: enormitat — great size
  • French: énormité — great size
  • Galician: enormidade — great size
  • Italian: enormità — great size
  • Latvian: milzīgums — great size
  • Latvian: gigantiskums — great size
  • Portuguese: enormidade — great size
  • Romanian: imensitate — great size
  • Spanish: enormidad — great size
  • Spanish: gigantez — great size