different between gargantuan vs hideous

English

Etymology

From French Gargantua, a giant with a very large appetite in Rabelais's The Inestimable Life of Gargantua. Rabelais derived Gargantua from the Portuguese and Spanish garganta (“throat”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?????æn.t?u.?n/

Adjective

gargantuan (comparative more gargantuan, superlative most gargantuan)

1. Huge; immense; tremendous.

   Synonyms: colossal, enormous, giant, huge, humongous, immense; see also Thesaurus:gigantic
2. (obsolete) Of the giant Gargantua or his appetite.

Derived terms

• gargantuanism
• gargantuanly
• gargantuanness

Translations

Further reading

• “gargantuan”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

References

English

Etymology

From Middle English hidous, from Anglo-Norman hidous, from Old French hideus, hydus (“that which inspires terror”), from earlier hisdos, from Old French hisda (“horror, fear”), of uncertain and disputed origin. Probably from Proto-West Germanic *agisiþu (“horror, terror”), from Proto-West Germanic *agis?n (“to frighten, terrorise”), from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?eg?- (“to frighten”). Cognate with Old High German egisa, egid? (“horror”), Old English egesa (“fear, dread”), Gothic ???????????????? (agis, “fear, terror”).

Alternative etymology cites possible derivation from Latin hispidosus (“rugged”), from hispidus (“rough, bristly”), yet the semantic evolution is less plausible.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?h?d.i?.?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?h?d.i.?s/

Adjective

hideous (comparative more hideous, superlative most hideous)

1. Extremely or shockingly ugly.
   • Thomas Babington Macaulay.

   A piteous and hideous spectacle.

2. Having a very unpleasant or frightening sound
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     He started up, growling at first, but finding his leg broken, fell down again; and then got upon three legs, and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard.

3. Hateful; shocking.
4. Morally offensive; shocking; detestable.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "hideous" is often applied: monster, creature, man, woman, face, thing, crime, form, death, aspect, spectacle, picture, roar, sound, manner, way, disease, mistake, shape, dress, fact, act, smile.

Synonyms

• frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, grotesque, horrid, dreadful, terrible

Derived terms

• hideosity
• hideously
• hideousness

Translations

Middle English

Adjective

hideous

1. Alternative form of hidous (“terrifying”)