immense

/ɪˈmens/ (bre, ipa) · /ɪˈmens/ (ame, ipa) · /i-ˈmen(t)s/ (ame, mw)

immense — adjective

  • immensepositive
  • more immensecomparative
  • most immensesuperlative

1. much larger or more serious than what people usually experience or expect — used

1.形容詞B1
釋義

much larger or more serious than what people usually experience or expect — used to describe physical size, amount, importance, or impact

例句

The new public library in Kaohsiung is immense — it holds more than two million books.

predicative use: be + immense

Rebuilding the fishing village after the typhoon required an immense amount of time and money.

collocation: immense amount of + noun

同義詞
  • huge

    the most common everyday alternative; similar strength but less formal

  • enormous

    slightly stronger than huge; suggests something shockingly large

  • vast

    used especially for areas, distances, or abstract scope (vast knowledge)

  • colossal

    dramatic and emphatic; often used for failures or disasters

反義詞
  • tiny

    opposite in everyday use for size

  • minuscule

    formal opposite; suggests something extremely small

文法句型

immense + noun

be + immense

用法筆記

Can describe both concrete physical size (an immense building) and abstract degree (immense importance). Common in both attributive position (before a noun) and predicative position (after a linking verb like 'be', 'feel', 'seem'). Avoid pairing with 'very' — immense already expresses a high degree.

常見錯誤

❌The building was very immense.
✅The building was immense.
💡immense already means 'extremely large'; adding 'very' is redundant.
❌There was an immense of food.
✅There was an immense amount of food.
💡immense is an adjective, not a quantifier; use 'immense amount / number of'.

2. so enjoyable, impressive, or excellent that it stands out — often used in everyd

2.形容詞B2
釋義

so enjoyable, impressive, or excellent that it stands out — often used in everyday speech to express strong approval of an experience, performance, or thing

例句

The dinner Beatrix cooked was immense — everyone at the table asked for the recipe.

predicative use for informal approval

Ramón said the concert was absolutely immense and worth seeing again.

collocation: absolutely immense for emphasis

同義詞
  • fantastic

    widely used informal alternative; natural in both British and American English

  • brilliant

    common in British English; slightly less strong than immense

  • incredible

    emphatic and common across all varieties

反義詞
  • terrible

    direct opposite for experiences or quality

  • awful

    common informal antonym

文法句型

be + immense

sound / look / feel + immense

用法筆記

Chiefly informal in this sense. Common in British and Australian English but less frequent in American English. Often used with intensifiers such as 'absolutely' or 'truly'. Avoid in formal writing or academic contexts.

常見錯誤

❌The candidate's qualifications were immense.' (in a formal job reference)
✅The candidate's qualifications were outstanding.
💡immense meaning 'extremely good' is too informal for professional writing.
❌I got an immense score on the test.
✅I got a great score on the test.
💡immense is unnatural in this context unless you are deliberately using informal British slang.