What is enormous?

What Does enormous Mean

The adjective huge , which comes from the Latin word enormis , can qualify that or that which has a large size . The enormous, therefore, is larger than usual . For example: "My neighbor has a huge dog that always scares children" , "The hotel room is huge and very comfortable" , "The president has a huge financial problem to solve . "

The rating of huge can refer to the physical dimensions , but also to a symbolic aspect . If a woman claims that her nephew is huge, she is referring to the growth of the child's height. In this case, the adjective is linked to a bodily (material) characteristic. The same is true when someone refers to a "huge house" , a "huge plate" or a "huge horse" .

On the other hand, if an employer is concerned because he has "enormous difficulties" in paying the salaries of his employees, the adjective manifests something abstract, in the sense that it does not have a physical correlate. These difficulties are enormous because of their complexity: they pose a problem that cannot be solved simply.
In some cases, the notion of huge can coincide physically and symbolically. A journalist can claim that American basketball player Shaquille O'Neal was a "huge player" either because he is 2.16 meters tall and has a large body size, or because his ability and talent for this sport made him one. of the most dominant pivots or centers in the NBA in recent decades, winner of four champion rings.
One of the most striking characteristics of this adjective is that depending on the case it can denote a positive or negative aspect, although in its purest meaning it has no relationship with the quality of the noun it modifies. If we say that a rock is huge, we are not offering any qualitative data about it: it is very large, but its size does not have to affect us, unless we understand it through context.
On the other hand, when we claim to have a "huge problem" we do refer to a very difficult difficulty, a negative situation from which it is very difficult for us to come out with our heads held high, for which we take advantage of the idea of ​​volume or size to do emphasis on the negative aspect of the problem noun . In this case we can think that the use of the word huge is born from comparisons with material obstacles that are worse the larger, such as a well or a wall that prevent us from moving forward.

Similarly, we have the cases in which this adjective enhances the positive aspects of the noun, although at first glance it does not seem to have a meaning. For example, when we say "you have given me enormous joy " we give greater weight to the noun joy : if we only said "you have given me joy" we would be talking about a much less intense feeling. Needless to say, it is impossible to generalize the meaning of these expressions, since each speaker can print their own nuances.
A "huge joy" can represent different things, depending on the person who experiences it: that a loved one has been cured of a very serious illness , having passed an exam in college, landing a longed-for job or that his football team favorite has won a tournament are just some of the infinite examples.
In these cases, one could also speak simply of "joy", since not all express themselves with the same degree of exuberance , but many prefer a less ornate language. On the other side we have the examples of a "huge problem", which could well be a leak in the kitchen or a debt that puts the issuer's economy at risk, or even its difficulty in deciding what to do on Friday night.