Quick answer
Enormous is an adjective meaning extremely large, while enormity is a noun for the great scale or seriousness of something shocking. A garden can be enormous, but you feel the enormity of a disaster.
The core difference
Enormous describes size, while enormity is a noun for the weight or seriousness of something.
- enormous — extremely large in size or degree: The house has an enormous garden.
- enormity — the great scale or seriousness of something, often something shocking: It took days for the enormity of the disaster to sink in.
How to tell them apart
Start with the grammar. Enormous is an adjective, so it describes a noun, as in an enormous cake. Enormity is a noun, so it usually appears after the, as in the enormity of the task.
The mix-up shows up when people use enormity simply to mean big size. Some careful writers prefer to keep enormity for seriousness or shocking scale, and to use enormous for plain size, so following that habit is the safer choice in formal writing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I say the enormity of the building?
It is safer to say the size or the enormous scale of the building. Enormity is best kept for seriousness or shocking scale.
Is enormity an adjective?
No, enormity is a noun. The adjective is enormous.
Do the two words share a root?
Yes. Both come from Latin enormis, meaning outside the norm.
