- massive
- massive, massy, bulky, monumental, substantial are comparable when they mean impressively large or heavy.Massive distinctively stresses solidity and strength of construction and may imply an imposing appearance{
its ceilings . . . heavy with massive beams— Dickens
}{the mainland of Asia, and especially that part of it occupied by the massive bulk of China— Owen Lattimore
}{a man whose massive shoulders and determined cast of features ought to have convinced him that such an enterprise was nothing short of desperate— Shaw
}Massy, chiefly a literary word, carries a stronger implication of ponderousness than massive, but an equal implication of solidity and strength{your swords are now too massy for your strengths and will not be uplifted— Shak.
}{hast thou a goblet for dark sparkling wine? That goblet right heavy, and massy, and gold?— Keats
}{it was a castle, steadfast among storms, its side a massy wall— Sinclair Lewis
}Bulky stresses size rather than weight, and the excessive amount of space occupied rather than solidity or strength of construction{a bulky parcel
}{a bulky report
}{its front door and steps were wide, presumably in order to permit the passage of bulky objects— Chidsey
}{the museum finds it impossible to accept for display a great number of interesting but bulky items such as aircraft, guns or tanks— Report on Nat'l Development (Ottawa)
}Monumental implies greatness of size, but it distinctively suggests an imposing massiveness{me, Goddess, bring to archèd walks of twilight groves, and shadows brown ... of pine, or monumental oak— Milton
}{the monumental fourpost bed has been taken down— Daily Telegraph
}{a tall red-haired woman of monumental build— Wharton
}Substantial stresses solidity and strength of construction but it carries a weak implication of size or outwardly imposing appearance and a strong implication of established quality, worth, and stability{the most substantial buildings in England today are the old Norman cathedrals
}{the Philadelphia crowd in their drab, substantial, gray and brown clothes— Dorothy Canfield
}{substantial homes, and substantial relatives of some sort or other, on whom we could fall back— Galsworthy
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
