enormity

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enormity

/ɪˈnɔːmɪti/ UK
/ɪˈnoɹmɪti/ US
[-ɾi] US

Where it comes from

From Late Middle English ēnorme (“monstrous or unnatural act; enormity”), from Old French énormité (“enormity”), from Latin ēnormitās (“irregularity; enormity”), from ēnōrmis (“irregular, unusual; enormous, immense”) + -itās (suffix forming nouns indicating states of being). Ēnōrmis is derived from e- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘out; away’) + nōrma (“norm, standard”) + -is (Latin suffix forming adjectives from nouns).

noun enormities

countable, obsolete, uncountable Deviation from what is normal or standard; irregularity, abnormality.
Similar: anomalousness
uncountable Deviation from moral normality; extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty. Not until the war ended and journalists were able to enter Cambodia did the world really become aware of the enormity of Pol Pot’s oppression.
Similar: atrociousness
countable A breach of law or morality; a transgression, an act of evil or wickedness. Yet she appeared confident in innocence, and did not tremble, although gazed on and execrated by thousands; for all the kindness which her beauty might otherwise have excited, was obliterated in the minds of the spectators by the imagination of the enormity she was supposed to have committed.
Similar: desecration, violation
proscribed, sometimes, uncountable Great size; enormousness, hugeness, immenseness. I am in Amerika! I felt like weeping at the enormity of this fact. Amerika, the fabled, the mythic, the coveted. The knowledge that we had no visas, and therefore would not be allowed to set foot on land, dampened my enthusiasm only a little.
Similar: ginormity, size, bigness, bulk, largeness, magnitude, scale, immensity, prodigiousness

Thesaurus

noun

Translations

Every language

noun extreme wickedness, nefariousness, or cruelty

Español	perversidad, enormidad
Português	enormidade
Română	enormitate

noun great size

Español	enormidad, gigantez
Português	enormidade
Français	énormité
Italiano	enormità
Română	imensitate

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MLA

"enormity." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/enormity. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

enormity. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/enormity

Chicago

"enormity." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/enormity.

BibTeX

@misc{enormity_2026,
  title = {enormity},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/enormity},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}