Titanic
adjective /taɪˈtænɪk/ — Of extraordinary size, strength, or scale.
Definition
Of exceptional strength, size, or power; resembling or characteristic of the Titans; gigantic in scale or effort.
Beyond the definition
The Titans were the primordial gods who preceded the Olympians — enormous, primal, and eventually overthrown. Titanic names the quality that belongs to that scale: not just big, but big in a way that makes ordinary categories inadequate. A Titanic effort. A Titanic clash. The word has unfortunately been narrowed by the ship, but it retains its proper grandeur.
Origin & history
From Greek Titan — the race of primordial deities who ruled before the Olympian gods. In Greek mythology they were overthrown by Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus. Their scale was literal: they were gods of enormous size and power.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The engineering required was Titanic — four years, ten thousand workers, a river rerouted.
They were engaged in a Titanic argument about something that had started as a disagreement over dinner.
Her Titanic patience with difficult people was both a gift and, privately, a burden.
Synonyms
colossal, enormous, herculean, vast, monumental
Antonyms
tiny, modest, small-scale
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Looming maze walls
An adult stands before a towering, stone-walled maze, the walls of which loom high above them, creating a massive, imposing scale.
The massive size of the maze walls is titanic. They represent a scale of effort and construction that dwarfs the individual, evoking the power and greatness associated with the Titans of myth, whose works were always of an exceptional, gigantic nature.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration