momentous means outstanding in importance, of great consequence. It carries an Arena rating of 1851, earned across 16 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, momentous ranks #727 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,151 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #4,248 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,568 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
momentous is pronounced /məʊˈmɛn.təs/.
Why “momentous” is a great word
Characterized by great importance or consequence, especially in its bearing on the future. Formed within English from the noun 'moment' (meaning a brief period of time or importance) and the adjective-forming suffix '-ous' (meaning 'full of' or 'characterized by'), first recorded in use 1645–55. Unlike 'momentary' (which measures fleeting duration) or 'significant' (which denotes general importance), 'momentous' describes a weight that bends the timeline, an importance so profound it crystallizes a period. It is the quality of the quiet vote cast, the hand hovering over a switch, or the single sentence spoken that cleaves history into a before and an after—the recognition that some instants are not points in time but fulcrums upon which the world turns.
Etymology
From moment (“weight, importance”) + -ous.
adj
- Outstanding in importance, of great consequence.e.g.“The reason why I did not publish this book till the end of the last sessions of parliament was, because I did not care to interfere with more momentous affairs.” — 1725, Daniel Defoe, Everybody's Business is Nobody's Business:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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