Definition on a juicy word of your choice - Essay Example

Full Humungous Defined Humungous is an adjective which could describe things, animals, places or people depicting them as extremely large. Enormous and tremendous are among its synonyms that may describe the aforementioned subjects however when used in the former sense of the juicy word, humungous would not appropriately describe feelings or other vague subject matters. For instance, one can say, ‘The planet Jupiter is humungous’ meaning it is extremely large, enormous or tremendous. However, when a person says, ‘The love she has for her son is humungous’, it means that it is too much, immeasurable but its hugeness can be felt or just be imagined so that saying it is extremely large is not appropriate as a description in the sense of the sentence.

The size of a vague subject like love cannot be measured like that of a matter that one can see rather could only be described but with some differences in the meanings used so that not all synonyms are applicable in substituting the word. The point is, an individual can say that ‘Jupiter is extremely large or enormous’ but he cannot say that ‘His love is extremely large’ rather’ ‘His love is enormous or tremendous’ The adjective is used to describe in exaggeration as it depicts an overwhelming size of a subject whether it is tangible or not and it differentiates something that is simply large from one that is far larger.

An example of this could be the comparison of the sizes of the planet Pluto to that of Jupiter where the former could be described as large but not enormous when placed in juxtaposition with the other planet formerly mentioned. Knowing planets are large, Pluto is considered fairly large but not large enough to be considered humungous but learning that Jupiter can contain a lot of Plutos in it, one could just imagine how large the giant planet really is. Alternately spelled as humongous, the word is described in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as grand, herculean or heroic.

Grand as a synonym could have been used because of the greatness or wealth of someone or something that is considered grand, usually the royal family or someone that is kingly or priestly. Herculean on the other hand parallelizes the word to Hercules, a Roman god who is known for his strength and mystical powers, able to overcome impossible enemies and perform impossible tasks. The word in the earthly sense of it gives a picture of a mammoth, a wild beast known for its strength and size. Merriam dictionary also compares it to the leviathan, a sea creature mentioned in the Old Testament known to be unconquerable, having hides that cannot be penetrated by harpoons and whose appearance is overpowering.

Thus, the word also means something that is indomitable, having great strength or something that is overpowering. The word is considered juicy by this author because even if it is a common term generally used by students, professors and laymen, in itself it portrays a word that is simply humungous. The unique characteristic of the word that attracts people to it probably is the exaggeration it takes along in its use. Large, big and huge are common terms that can be comparable to the word but it becomes a grander word knowing that it possesses the superlative value of an adjective.