Cavernous

//ˈkav.ən.əs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Resembling a cavern in size, shape, or atmosphere.

    "The last stop on the West Coast Main Line before you cross the border into Scotland, the strategically placed Carlisle Citadel is a station steeped in history. Opened on September 1 1847, the cavernous station was once home to seven railway companies in the pre-Grouping years."

  2. 2
    Resembling a cavern in size, shape, or atmosphere.; Giving the impression of vast, dark depths.

    "cavernous eyes"

  3. 3
    Having many caverns.; Composed largely of vascular sinuses and capable of dilating with blood to bring about the erection of a body part.
  4. 4
    Having many caverns.; Having cavities.
Adjective
  1. 1
    filled with vascular sinuses and capable of becoming distended and rigid as the result of being filled with blood wordnet
  2. 2
    being or suggesting a cavern wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
cavelikehollowabysmalabyssalboat-shapedboatlike

Example

More examples

"And so the veil falls, revealing the walls, of cavernous halls, Valhalla calls."

Etymology

Late Middle English cavernous, cavernose, borrowing from Old French caverneux or Latin cavernōsus (“full of hollows or cavities”), from caverna (“a hollow, cavity, cave”) + -ōsus (“-ous, -ose”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to cavern + -ous.

Related phrases

cavernous bodycavernous nervecavernous sinus

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.