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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Consisting of or making up a large mass; bulky, heavy, and solid: a massive piece of furniture.
  2. adj. Large or imposing, as in quantity, scope, degree, intensity, or scale: "Local defense must be reinforced by the further deterrent of massive retaliatory power” ( John Foster Dulles). See Synonyms at heavy.
  3. adj. Large in comparison with the usual amount: a massive dose of a drug.
  4. adj. Pathology Affecting a large area of bodily tissue; widespread and severe: massive gangrene.
  5. adj. Mineralogy Lacking internal crystalline structure; amorphous.
  6. adj. Geology Without internal structure or layers and homogeneous in composition. Used of a rock.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Forming or consisting of a large mass; solid; having great size and weight; heavy; weighty; ponderous: as, a massive weapon.
  2. Existing in mass or masses; massed or aggregated; not separated into parts or elements: specifically applied in psychology to sensations or feelings.
  3. Pertaining to the whole mass or bulk of anything; total, as to mass; not special, local, or partial.
  4. In mineralogy, without crystalline form, although perhaps crystalline in structure: as, a mineral that occurs massive. A mineral which is both massive and non-crystalline is said to be amorphous.
  5. In geology, homogeneous; destitute of structural divisions, such as planes of stratification or jointing. By some geologists the term massive is used as synonymous with eruptive or Plutonic igneous, but such rocks often have one or more well-marked systems of joints, and are by no means homogeneous.
  6. In zoology, massed: applied to the type of structure represented by the mollusks.
  7. In zoology: Noting a compact sponge of any kind which grows more or less equally in all directions: contrasted with incrusting, dendritic, flabellate, etc.
  8. In pathology, extensive; involving a large mass of tissue.
  9. n. Same as massif.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Of or pertaining to a large mass; weighty, heavy, or bulky.
  2. adj. Much larger than normal.
  3. adj. Of great significance or import; overwhelming.
  4. adj. Possessing mass, and thus subject to gravity

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Forming, or consisting of, a large mass; compacted; weighty; heavy; massy.
  2. adj. In mass; not necessarily without a crystalline structure, but having no regular form.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. being the same substance throughout
  2. adj. imposing in size or bulk or solidity
  3. adj. consisting of great mass; containing a great quantity of matter
  4. adj. imposing in scale or scope or degree or power

Etymologies

  1. Middle English massif, from Old French, from masse, mass; see mass.

Examples

  • “Ashurst restructuring managing partner Mark Vickers said: "We've seen massive changes taking place in the banking ­industry - there's been ­massive upheaval both in the marketplace and organisationally within the banks.”

    The Lawyer - Latest News

  • “Kwesi Ofori, director of public affairs for the Ghanaian national police, told VOA authorities came to the camp to quell what he described as massive violence that was being carried out by the refugees.”

    Voice of America: Conflicting Accounts of Ghanaian Police Raid on Refugee Camp

  • “ElBaradei's message comes just days after President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party swept to victory in parliamentary elections after the two main opposition groups boycotted a second round of voting to protest what they called massive fraud.”

    Voice of America: Egyptian Opposition Figure Calls for Election Boycott

  • “The Islamist group, which is banned but tolerated and fields candidates as independents, joined a broad coalition of Egyptian and international human rights groups in denouncing what they described as massive and systemic fraud.”

    The Wall Street Journal: World Watch

  • “Pakistan launching what it calls a massive offensive against insurgents.”

    CNN Transcript Oct 17, 2009

  • “Meanwhile, another major development we're following right now in the war on terrorism, the FBI detailing allegations of what they describe as a massive plot to detonate bombs in the United States.”

    CNN Transcript Sep 24, 2009

  • “CHERNOFF: Well, as I just said, his attorney just made very clear that he is going to plead guilty on Thursday to these counts I've said and essentially as we've been reporting what Mr. Madoff has said to FBI agents months ago is that he did engage in what he described as a massive ponzi scheme, taking money from new investors, using that money to pay off people, taking withdrawals.”

    CNN Transcript Mar 10, 2009

  • “Americans are taking what they call a massive leap of faith.”

    CNN Transcript Jul 27, 2009

  • “Professor Falk said he drew the comparison between the treatment of Palestinians with the Nazi record of collective atrocity, because of what he described as the massive Israeli punishment directed at the entire population of Gaza.”

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: UN expert stands by Nazi comments

  • “VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'UN expert stands by Nazi comments'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Professor Falk said he drew the comparison between the treatment of Palestinians with the Nazi record of collective atrocity, because of what he described as the massive Israeli punishment directed at the entire population of Gaza.”

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: UN expert stands by Nazi comments

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‘massive’ has been looked up 1833 times, loved by 1 person, added to 13 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 12.