different between towering vs substantial

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ta?????/

Verb

towering

1. present participle of tower

Adjective

towering (comparative more towering, superlative most towering)

1. Very tall or high, so as to dwarf anything around it.

   • So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

   • 1964, Look (volume 28, page 338)

     She is a towering girl with a husky baritone voice and a friendly and flamboyant style.

Translations

Noun

towering (plural towerings)

1. The act or condition of being high above others.
   • 1787, Robert Burns, letter to a friend

     But I am an old hawk at the sport; and wrote her such a cool, deliberate, prudent reply, as brought my bird from the aerial towerings, pop down at my foot like Corporal Trim's hat.

See also

• tower over
• towering inferno

English

Etymology

From Old French substantiel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?b?stæn??l/

Adjective

substantial (comparative more substantial, superlative most substantial)

1. Having a substance; actually existing.

   substantial life

2. Not imaginary; real; actual; true; veritable.
   • 1850s, Cardinal John Henry Newman, The Rise and Progress of Universities

     to do some substantial good, is the compensation for much incidental imperfection

3. Corporeal; material; firm.
4. Having good substance; strong; stout; solid; firm.

5. Possessed of goods or an estate; moderately wealthy.

6. Large in size, quantity, or value; ample; significant.

7. Most important; essential.
8. Satisfying; having sufficient substance to be nourishing or filling.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

substantial (plural substantials)

1. Anything having substance; an essential part.