enormity

n. pl. e·nor·mi·ties

[French énormité, from Old French, from Latin ēnormitās, from ēnormis, unusual, enormous; see enormous.]

Usage Note: Enormity is frequently used to refer simply to the property of being great in size or extent, but many people would prefer that enormousness (or a synonym such as immensity) be used for this general sense, and that enormity be limited to situations that demand a negative moral judgment, as in 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. A majority of the Usage Panel has rejected the general use of enormity since the 1960s, and although resistance to this usage has lost some of its intensity, it remains strong. In our 1967 survey, 93 percent of the Panel rejected the word's use to refer to physical extent in the example The enormity of Latin America is readily apparent from these maps. In both our 1988 and 2002 surveys, 59 percent of the Panel rejected the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity in the example At that point the engineers sat down to design an entirely new viaduct, apparently undaunted by the enormity of their task. Even if one sides with the dissenting 41 percent and allows for enormity's largeness, it may be best to avoid it in phrases like the enormity of the president's election victory and the enormity of her inheritance, where enormity's sense of monstrousness may give rise to unintended smirks.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

n, pl -ties

[C15: from Old French enormite, from Late Latin ēnormitās hugeness; see enormous]

Usage: In modern English, it is common to talk about the enormity of something such as a task or a problem, but one should not talk about the enormity of an object or area: distribution is a problem because of India's enormous size (not India's enormity)

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

1. outrageous or heinous character; monstrousness: the enormity of the crime.

2. something outrageous or heinous, as an offense.

3. greatness of size, scope, or extent; immensity: The enormity of the task was overwhelming.

[1425–75; < Middle French < Latin]

usage: enormity has been in continuous use in the sense “immensity” since the 18th century. Some hold that enormousness is the correct word in that sense and that enormity can only mean “outrageousness” or “atrociousness.” enormity occurs regularly in edited writing with the meanings both of great size and of outrageous or horrifying character, behavior, etc. Some people, however, continue to condemn its use in the sense “great size.”

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.