Colossally

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner that signifies an exceptionally large scale or impact
2. To an extremely exaggerated extent that highlights magnitude or significance
3. In a way that shows something is remarkably huge or important

Etymology: "Colossally" is simply "colossal" with the English adverb ending "-ly" added, and the adjective it rests on has a memorable origin. The Greek "kolossos" meant a huge statue, and the most famous example was the Colossus of Rhodes, a bronze figure of the sun god Helios that stood at the harbour entrance of Rhodes. Latin borrowed the word as "colossus", and French later turned it into "colosse". English took the adjective "colossal" from French "colossal", so the word has always carried the sense of something statue-sized before it came to mean anything merely enormous. The adverb itself is a late product of that adjective. The suffix "-ly" descends from an Old English form meaning "like" or "in the manner of", so "colossally" literally means "in a colossal manner", which is why it is used to intensify other words, as in "colossally expensive".

Synonyms: immensely, enormously, vastly, tremendously, gigantically

Antonyms: minimally, slightly, insignificantly, trivially