Definition of "enormity" []

• The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness. (noun)
• A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage. (noun)
• Usage Problem Great size; immensity: "Beyond that, [Russia's] sheer enormity offered a defense against invaders that no European nation enjoyed” ( W. Bruce Lincoln). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He thanks many members of his campaign, along with his enormous army of volunteers, and he warns supporters about what he calls the enormity of the tasks at hand that now face the U.S."
• "Finally, and for the avoidance of doubt, the man who "misspoke" the word enormity is to be referred to as President-Elect Obama until his inauguration on 20 January."
• "But the greatest number of letters I've received, by far, have been about my seemingly criminal use of the word enormity to mean 'enormous'."