different between tremendous vs cyclopean

English

Etymology

From Latin tremendus (“fearful, terrible”), gerundive of trem? (“to tremble”), + -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t???m?nd?s/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /t???m?nd?s/
• Rhymes: -?nd?s
• Hyphenation: tre?men?dous

Adjective

tremendous (comparative more tremendous, superlative most tremendous)

1. awe-inspiring; terrific.
2. Notable for its size, power, or excellence.

   Van Beethoven's ninth symphony is a tremendous piece of music.

3. Extremely large (in amount, extent, degree, etc.) or great

   There was a tremendous outpouring of support.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Derived terms

• tremendously
• tremendousness

Translations

Trivia

One of four common words ending in -dous, which are hazardous, horrendous, stupendous, and tremendous.

References

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sa?kl??pi.?n/

Adjective

cyclopean (comparative more cyclopean, superlative most cyclopean)

1. Suggestive of a cyclops.
2. (masonry) Fitted together of huge irregular stones.
3. Massive in stature.
   • 2006, Fernando Pessoa, "Salutation to Walt Whitman," in A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems, edited and translated by Richard Zenith, Penguin, pp. 198-9,

     You were cyclopean and muscular, not pretty, / Yet your attitude toward the world was feminine, / And for you each leaf of grass, each stone and each man was the Universe.

     See also quotation under cyclopian.

4. (image) Created by combining two images
   • 2001, Sharan Strange, "Looking," in Ash, Boston: Beacon Press, p. 50,

     When he wrote the word, / the o's were joined / like eyeglass lenses without / a bridge. Cross-eyed, hypnotic, / they threatened to merge, / become Cyclopean. […]

Alternative forms

• Cyclopean
• cyclopian

Translations

Anagrams

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