Talk:enormity

The following usage note was added anonymously to the entry without citation:
 * Usage Note: the word Enormity is often used to describe something large without it being necessarily evil or wicked. However the majority of dictionary word usage panels have ruled that use in such a way, although common, is incorrect. A synonym such as enormousness or immensity would be the correct word to use.

Feel free to put the note back into the entry (but under a "====Usage notes====" section) if you find any actual citations. Rod (A. Smith) 01:33, 10 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I toned it down heavily. We are not usage maven, at best we should comment on the feelings of existing mavens. Circeus 18:46, 26 September 2007 (UTC)


 * This seems a bit excessive. "Enormity" in the sense of "being enormous" used to be perfectly legitimate usage. OED states that this use is now considered obsolete, so fair enough; it is NOT, however, a "new" usage that has "entered into" modern language.

For discussion, see http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000263.html It is also incongruous to claim that enormity is not related to enormous, but to normativity. Both are of course related to normativity, so obviously interrelated. Conversely, "enormous" used to also have the meaning "atrocious" - though, THIS usage is now obsolete. Nicholair 12:17, 2 March 2011 (UTC)