different between colossal vs hulking

English

Etymology

From French colossal, formed from Latin colossus, from Ancient Greek ???????? (kolossós, “giant statue”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??l?s?l/
• Rhymes: -?s?l

Adjective

colossal (comparative more colossal, superlative most colossal)

1. Extremely large or on a great scale.
2. Amazingly spectacular; extraordinary; epic.

Synonyms

• (extremely large): enormous, giant, gigantic, immense, prodigious, vast
• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Related terms

• colosseum
• colossus

Translations

Anagrams

• alcosols

French

Etymology

Formed from Latin colossus, from Ancient Greek ???????? (kolossós) (originally used by Herodotus in reference to statues in ancient Egyptian temples).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?.l?.sal/

Adjective

colossal (feminine singular colossale, masculine plural colossaux, feminine plural colossales)

1. colossal, huge

Derived terms

• calmar colossal

Further reading

• “colossal” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Etymology

From colosso +? -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?ko.lo.?saw/

Adjective

colossal m or f (plural colossais, comparable)

1. colossal (extremely large)

   Synonyms: gigante, enorme

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?lk??/

Adjective

hulking (not comparable)

1. Large and bulky, heavily built; massive.
   • 2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, page 212:

     A hulking shape burst through the doorway and hurtled down the corridor, leaving a maelstrom of air currents in his wake.

2. Unwieldy.

Translations

Noun

hulking (plural hulkings)

1. A kind of sloping embankment used as a coastal defence.
   • 1953, The Institution of Civil Engineers, Proceedings (volume 2, part 2, page 513)

     The sand-hills have permanently disappeared from many parts of the coast and have been replaced by clay embankments, timber hulkings, and, during the pre-war years, by mass-concrete stepwork.

Related terms

• hulk

Verb

hulking

1. present participle of hulk