What does prodigious mean?
Word: Prodigious
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Prodigious means remarkably great in size, amount or degree; impressive enough to cause wonder.
Synonyms: enormous, immense, remarkable, colossal
Antonyms: tiny, insignificant
Word origin: Comes from a Latin word for a marvel or an omen; prodigy has the same root.
How do you spell prodigious?
Syllables: pro - di - gious
Tricky part: The g in the middle is said like j, but it is always written g. Students who spell by sound write prodijious.
Watch out for: prodijious, prodidgious
Memory tip: A prodigy has prodigious talent: the g of prodigy stays put even though it sounds like j.
Prodigious in a sentence
Example 1: The young chess player has a prodigious memory for opening moves.
Example 2: Elephants eat a prodigious amount of food, sometimes over a hundred kilograms a day.
Example 3: The farmers brought in a prodigious mango harvest after the good monsoon.
Fun Fact
In ancient Rome a strange event, such as a comet, was called a prodigium. That Latin word later gave English both prodigy and prodigious.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. accomodate 2. prodigious 3. embarassment 4. rhythym
a) to provide a place for someone to stay
b) a feeling of being shy or awkward in front of others
c) far greater than anyone would normally expect
d) a strong regular pattern of sounds or movements
Show answer
c) far greater than anyone would normally expect. Accommodate and embarrassment each need a double letter and rhythm has no second y; prodigious is spelt right.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to prodigious as used in the sentence:
The new bridge over the river was finished at a prodigious speed, weeks before the monsoon.
a) phenomenal
b) staggering
c) astonishing
d) ordinary
Show answer
d) ordinary. Prodigious means amazingly great, so the opposite here is ordinary; the other three mean much the same as prodigious.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
In the final lap the runner found digropsuoi strength and overtook three others.
a) prodigal
b) prodigy
c) prestigious
d) prodigious
Show answer
d) prodigious. The letters make prodigious; prestigious needs an e and a t, and prodigal and prodigy are too short.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Within a single summer the young batsman scored a prodigeous number of runs, and selectors from three states came to watch him play.
a) batsman
b) summer
c) prodigeous
d) selectors
Show answer
c) prodigeous. Prodigious ends in gious, with an i after the g, not an e.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these could best be called prodigious?
a) a room with a single window
b) a pencil that is slightly blunt
c) a library with a million books
d) a bus that arrives on time
Show answer
c) a library with a million books
2. Which sentence uses prodigious in the right way?
a) She took a prodigious nap of two minutes.
b) The athlete's prodigious leap broke the school record.
c) The prodigious drizzle barely wet the ground.
d) He spoke in a prodigious whisper nobody heard.
Show answer
b) The athlete's prodigious leap broke the school record.
