cavernous

Resembling a cavern in size, shape, or atmosphere.

Adjective

  1. Resembling a cavern in size, shape, or atmosphere.
    • The last stop on the West Coast Main Line before you cross the border into Scotland, the strategically placed Carlisle Citadel is a station steeped in history. Opened on September 1 1847, the cavernous station was once...
    • At 8:34 p.m. Saturday night, in the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton, I heard a loud crashing noise, like a big tray of dinner plates hitting the floor. - 2026 April 26, Linda Feldmann, “After the gunfire:...

    Synonyms: cavelike

    1. Giving the impression of vast, dark depths.

      • cavernous eyes
      • While the filmmakers behind Dear Evan Hansen have maintained that their biggest motivation for adapting the popular Broadway musical was to immortalize Platt’s Tony-winning titular performance, what they’ve actually...

      Synonyms: cavelike

  2. Having many caverns.

    1. (anatomy, zootomy) Composed largely of vascular sinuses and capable of dilating with blood to bring about the erection of a body part.

    2. (dentistry) Having cavities.

Origin

Late Middle English cavernous, cavernose, borrowing from Old French caverneux or Latin cavernōsus (“full of hollows or cavities”), from caverna (“a hollow, cavity, cave”) + -ōsus (“-ous, -ose”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to cavern + -ous.

Forms

more cavernous most cavernous

Derived

bronchocavernous cavernoma cavernous body cavernously cavernous nerve cavernous sinus extracavernous intercavernous intracavernous noncavernous paracavernous pericavernous