Momentous: meaning, example and synonyms
Momentousadj. Of great importance or significance, especially for the future.
Example
The ratification of the water-sharing treaty was a momentous step for the region, ending decades of dispute over the shrinking river.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Synonyms
- historic, pivotal, consequential, significant
- Antonyms
- trivial, insignificant, unimportant, minor
- Memory tip
- Momentous has momentum: it pushes history forward.
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Check yourself: Momentous in context
The discovery of the first antibiotic proved ______, transforming medicine so thoroughly that infections once fatal became routine to treat within a generation.
Answer: momentous. A discovery that transformed medicine is momentous (of great significance). Desolate (bleak), counterproductive (self-defeating) and ossified (rigid) contradict a transformation.
Delegates sensed that the vote was ______; whichever way it went, it would decide the shape of the republic's constitution for the next century.
Answer: momentous. A vote deciding a century's constitution is momentous (highly significant). Impeccable (flawless), desolate (bleak) and counterproductive (self-defeating) don't describe great importance.