1
Enormous quantity
Extraordinarily large in amount, often beyond what would normally be expected.
Example
The restoration required a prodigious amount of patience.
prodigious
/prəˈdɪdʒəs/ · pruh-DIJ-uhsadjective
Remarkably large or impressive.
Use prodigious for an amount, output, talent, memory, or effort that is extraordinary in scale or power.
What prodigious Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Exceptional ability
Remarkably powerful or impressive as a talent, memory, or intellectual capacity.
Example
The composer possessed a prodigious memory for entire scores.
3
Remarkable output
Produced at an unusually high rate or on a very large scale.
Example
The scholar's prodigious output included twelve books and hundreds of articles.
Use prodigious Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
The restoration required a prodigious amount of patience.
The composer possessed a prodigious memory and could recall entire scores after one hearing.
A prodigious research effort allowed the team to catalogue thousands of fragments.
Precision Matters
Prodigious overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
prodigious
vs.Can describe impressive ability, output, effort, or amount.
enormous
Primarily stresses very great physical size or quantity.
prodigious
vs.Stresses extraordinary scale, ability, or quantity.
prolific
Specifically stresses producing many works, results, or offspring.
prodigious
vs.Adds the idea of exceptional magnitude or degree.
impressive
Broadly inspires admiration without specifying large scale.
prodigious
vs.Means remarkably great or powerful.
precocious
Means showing advanced ability unusually early in life.
Test prodigious in Context
The ability is extraordinary in power and scale.
1
The composer had a ___ memory: after hearing a symphony once, she could reproduce nearly the entire score from memory.