Multitudinous

//ˌmʌltɪˈtjuːdɪnəs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Existing in multitudes or great numbers; very numerous; innumerable.

    "The great impoſtume of the realme vvas dravvne / Euen to a head: the multitudinous ſpavvne / VVas the corruption, vvhich did make it ſvvell / VVith hop'd ſedition (the burnt ſeed of hell.)"

  2. 2
    Comprising a large number of features or parts; manifold, multiple, myriad; also, having a large number of forms.

    "[I]n a State ſo multitudinous, where ſo many flocks of people muſt be fed, it is impoſſible to haue ſome Trades to ſtand, if they ſhould not Lye."

  3. 3
    Comprising a large number of features or parts; manifold, multiple, myriad; also, having a large number of forms.; Of a sound: made by many people.

    "From the whole extent of the invisible vale came a multitudinous intonation; it forced upon their fancy that a great city lay below them, and that the murmur was the vociferation of its populace."

  4. 4
    Of a body of water, the sea, etc.: huge, vast; also, having innumerable ripples. literary, poetic

    "VVill all great Neptunes ocean vvaſh this blood / Cleane from my Hand? no: this my Hand vvill rather / The multitudinous Seas incarnardine, / Making the Greene one, Red."

  5. 5
    Followed by with: crowded with many people or things. obsolete, poetic

    "The transport of a fierce and monstrous gladness / Spread thro' the multitudinous streets, fast flying / Upon the winds of fear; […]"

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  1. 6
    Of or relating to the multitude (“common people; masses”). obsolete, rare

    "You […] That preferre / A Noble life, before a Long, and VViſh / To iumpe a Body vvith a dangerous Phyſicke, / That's ſure of death vvithout it: at once plucke out / The Multitudinous Tongue, let them not licke / The ſvveet vvhich is their poyſon."

  2. 7
    Very fruitful or productive; prolific. figuratively, obsolete, rare

    "[T]wo very multitudinous versifiers, Mr. Nightshade and Mr. Mac Laurel, who followed the trade of poetry, but occasionally indulged themselves in the composition of bad criticism."

Adjective
  1. 1
    too numerous to be counted wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
myriadabundantamplebillionconsiderablecopious

Example

More examples

"In youth we may have an absolutely new experience, subjective or objective, every hour of the day. Apprehension is vivid, retentiveness strong, and our recollections of that time, like those in a time spent in rapid and interesting travel, are of something intricate, multitudinous, and long-drawn-out. But as each passing year converts some of this experience into automatic routine which we hardly note at all, the days and the weeks smooth themselves out in recollection to a contentless unit, and the years grow hollow and collapse."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin multitūdin- (the oblique stem of multitūdō (“great number (of people), multitude”)) + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)). Multitūdō is derived from multus (“many; much”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“to be late; to worry”)) + -tūdō (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition or state). By surface analysis, multitude + -in- (interfix used before Latinate suffixes appended to nouns ending with -itude or -tude) + -ous.

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