Humongous is the standard spelling of the adjective meaning extraordinarily large. The exact origins of the word are mysterious, but the earliest instances of humongous in print are found in American publications from the early 1960s. The word is probably a fusion of huge, monstrous, and tremendous. Some dictionaries list humungous as an alternative spelling, but humongous has taken root in the language and is now far more common than the alternative.





Humongous might be considered out of place in formal writing because it is still a new word. Huge, large, colossal, immense, and enormous are potential replacements. On the spectrum of formality, humongous may be less serious than those synonyms, but it’s more formal than ginormous, an even newer coinage formed by fusing giant and enormous.

Pronunciation varies. Some people pronounce it according to the alternative spelling (hue-MUNG-us), and some pronounce it according to the conventional spelling (hue-MONG-us).






Examples