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Nefarious vs Prodigious - What's the difference?

nefarious | prodigious |

As adjectives the difference between nefarious and prodigious

is that nefarious is sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics while prodigious is very big in size or quantity; gigantic; colossal; huge.

nefarious

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.
  • * 1828 , , The Red Rover , ch. 2:
  • "If the vessel be no fair-trading slaver, nor a common cruiser of his Majesty, it is as tangible as the best man's reasoning, that she may be neither more nor less than the ship of that nefarious pirate the Red Rover."
  • * 1877 , , The Life of Cicero , ch. 9:
  • Mommsen . . . declares that Catiline in particular was "one of the most nefarious' men in that ' nefarious age. His villanies belong to the criminal records, not to history."
  • * 1921 , , The Indiscretions of Archie , ch. 26:
  • The fact that the room was still in darkness made it obvious that something nefarious was afoot. Plainly there was dirty work in preparation at the cross-roads.
  • * 2009 Oct. 14, Monica Davey, " Fact Checker Finds Falsehoods in Remarks," New York Times (retrieved 12 May 2014):
  • “I try to let everyone back here in Minnesota know exactly the nefarious activities that are taking place in Washington.”

    Usage notes

    * Commonly used in contexts involving villainous plans, conspiracies, or actions, as in: :* 1909 , , The Lady of the Shroud , book 7: ::: The whole nefarious scheme was one of the "put-up jobs" which are part of the dirty work of a certain order of statecraft.

    Synonyms

    * evil, iniquitous, sinister, underhanded, vile * See also

    Derived terms

    * nefariously * nefariousness

    References

    *

    prodigious

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Very big in size or quantity; gigantic; colossal; huge.
  • {{quote-Fanny Hill, part=3 , Its prodigious size made me shrink again; yet I could not, without pleasure, behold, and even ventur'd to feel, such a length, such a breadth of animated ivory!}}
  • extraordinarily exciting or amazing
  • (obsolete) ominous, portentous
  • Synonyms

    * gigantic, colossal, huge, enormous; See also * amazing * ominous, portentous

    Derived terms

    * prodigiously