different between hulking vs stupendous

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     The sand-hills have permanently disappeared from many parts of the coast and have been replaced by clay embankments, timber hulkings, and, during the pre-war years, by mass-concrete stepwork.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

English

Etymology

First attested from 1547, from Late Latin stupendus (“stunning, amazing”), from Latin stupeo (“(I) am stunned”). Compare stupid. See Latin stupeo for more.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /stu?p?nd?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /stju?p?nd?s/
• Rhymes: -?nd?s

Adjective

stupendous (comparative more stupendous, superlative most stupendous)

1. Astonishingly great or large; huge; enormous.

   One cannot appreciate how stupendous the Matterhorn is without seeing it.

2. Of stunning excellence or degree; marvelous.

   The renovator created a stupendous new look for our house.

Synonyms

• colossal, enormous, huge, marvelous, prodigious, terrific, tremendous
• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Derived terms

• stupendously
• stupendousness

Related terms

• stupid
• stupor

Translations

References

• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.