mighty
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English mighty, mightie, mighti, myghty, miȝty, maȝty, from Old English mihtiġ, mehtiġ, meahtiġ, mæhtiġ (“mighty”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahtīg (“mighty”), from Proto-Germanic *mahtīgaz (“mighty”), equivalent to might + -y.
Cognate with Scots michty, mychty, Saterland Frisian machtich, Dutch machtig, German Low German machtig, German mächtig, Swedish mäktig.
Pronunciation
Noun
mighty (plural mighties)
- (obsolete, rare) A warrior of great strength and courage.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 1 Chronicles 11:12:
- And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties.
Adjective
mighty (comparative mightier, superlative mightiest)
- Very strong; possessing might.
- He's a mighty wrestler, but you are faster than him.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Job 9:4:
- Wise in heart, and mighty in strength.
- Very heavy and powerful.
- Thor swung his mighty hammer.
- He gave the ball a mighty hit.
- (colloquial) Very large; hefty.
- 1809, A History of New York, Washington Irving:
- Having listened attentively to the statement of Wandle Schoonhoven, giving an occasionable grunt, as he shovelled a mighty spoonful of Indian pudding into his mouth […]
- Accomplished by might; hence, extraordinary; wonderful.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Matthew 11:20:
- His mighty works
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, .”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J M for John Starkey , →OCLC, page 42, lines 637–638:
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
- Mighty was their fuss about little matters.
- (informal) Excellent, extremely good.
- Tonight's a mighty opportunity to have a party.
- She's a mighty cook.
Derived terms
Translations
very strong, possessing might
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Adverb
mighty (not comparable)
- (colloquial) Very; to a high degree.
- You can leave that food in your locker for the weekend, but it's going to smell mighty bad when you come back on Monday.
- Pork chops boiled with turnip greens make a mighty fine meal.
- 1665 June 7 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 28th, 1665 (Lord’s Day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys , volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons ; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, →OCLC:
- The lady is not heard of, and the King mighty angry and the Lord sent to the Tower.
- 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 82:
- 'He is a mighty handsome man!' 'I don't think so,' said Tess coldly.
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World , London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
- "You see, between you an' me close-tiled, I look on this South American business as a mighty serious thing, and if I have a pal with me I want a man I can bank on."
- 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:
- I was mighty glad that our entrance into the interior of Caprona had been inside a submarine rather than in any other form of vessel. I could readily understand how it might have been that Caprona had been invaded in the past by venturesome navigators without word of it ever reaching the outside world, for I can assure you that only by submarine could man pass up that great sluggish river, alive.
- 1964, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Motorpsycho Nitemare”:
- I pounded on a farmhouse / Lookin' for a place to stay / I was mighty, mighty tired / I had come a long, long way
- 1965, Shadow Morton (lyrics and music), “Sophisticated Boom Boom”, performed by The Shangri-Las:
- I was walkin' down the street / And it was gettin' mighty late
- 1979, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, performed by Sylvester:
- And I know my love, it's about that time / Make me feel, mighty real