May we count your visit with Google Analytics? It uses cookies and sends visit data to Google. You can change this any time under Cookie choices. Privacy

 Browse the A to Z list

Prodigious

adj. capable, energetic formal

What it means

Meaning 1

Remarkably great in amount, scale, or degree.

Reach for it when describing an unusually large output or capacity

The archive contains a prodigious collection of field recordings.

Meaning 2

Exceptionally impressive in ability or achievement.

Reach for it when giving elevated praise to demonstrated capacity

Her prodigious memory let her identify every melody after one hearing.

Words to choose between 8

By register, from playful at the top to literary at the bottom, and by meaning across. Tap a word to see when it fits.
Meaning 1Meaning 2
everyday
warm
professional
formal
literary

Meaning 1: Remarkably great in amount, scale, or degree.

  • everyday

    enormous

    Fits when sheer size is the relevant fact

    Careful It says nothing about impressiveness, output, or unusual ability.

  • professional

    prolific

    Fits when a person or source produces many works

    Careful Prolific concerns frequency or number, not necessarily total scale or quality.

  • formal

    copious

    Fits when output or supply is abundant

    Careful It can imply excess and does not describe ability.

  • formal

    immense

    Fits when scale is vast and difficult to overstate

    Careful Immense is too broad for a specific rate or tightly measured amount.

Meaning 2: Exceptionally impressive in ability or achievement.

  • warm

    remarkable

    Fits when the achievement deserves special notice

    Careful It is weaker and may praise surprise rather than magnitude.

  • professional

    exceptional

    Fits when performance clearly exceeds a defined norm

    Careful It lacks prodigious's suggestion of abundance or astonishing capacity.

  • formal

    extraordinary

    Fits when ability lies far outside the ordinary range

    Careful Extraordinary can mean unusual without being positive.

  • literary

    formidable

    Fits when ability commands respect and perhaps apprehension

    Careful The word can sound threatening rather than warmly admiring.

Opposites 3

  • meager
  • ordinary
  • limited

Common phrases 3

  • prodigious talent

    Her prodigious talent matured through disciplined ensemble work.

  • prodigious amount

    The cleanup produced a prodigious amount of material for safe reuse.

  • prodigious output

    His prodigious output included hundreds of carefully indexed recordings.

Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Neskaya, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated