prodigious has definitions from the field of antiquity
1
[ adjective ] (antiquity) so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe

Synonyms

colossal stupendous

Examples

"colossal crumbling ruins of an ancient temple" "has a colossal nerve" "a prodigious storm" "a stupendous field of grass" "stupendous demand"

Used in print

(Clifford H. Pope, The Giant Snakes....)

His thirteenth chapter includes many exciting accounts of huge serpents with prodigious strength , but these seem to be given to complete his picture , not to be believed .

(S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)

His energy was prodigious ; sometimes he would be up before dawn , clad as a garbage_collector and hurling pails into areaways to exasperate us , and thereafter would hurry to the Bronx_Zoo to grimace at the lions and press cigar_butts against their paws .

Related terms

large

2
[ adjective ] of momentous or ominous significance

Synonyms

portentous

Examples

"such a portentous...monster raised all my curiosity"- Herman Melville "a prodigious vision"

Related terms

significant

3
[ adjective ] far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree

Examples

"a night of exceeding darkness" "an exceptional memory" "olympian efforts to save the city from bankruptcy" "the young Mozart's prodigious talents"

Related terms

extraordinary

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