much

M3U1C3H4
UK/mʌt͡ʃ/Northern England/mʊt͡ʃ/

determiner

A large amount of.

“Take as much time as you like.”

Similar
a great deal ofa lot ofa great deala lotgreatlyhighlyloadsplenty
Opposite
littlelessfewalmostnearly
OriginMiddle English muche ← Old English miċel ← Proto-West Germanic *mikil →
Very commonFirst used 13th c.Scrabble 11
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Meanings

much1

determinermuch (comparative more, superlative most)

comparative more · superlative most

  1. A large amount of.First known use 13th c.

    Did you do much running last summer?

    4 more examples

    Do you think I have much chance of catching the train on time?

    After much discussion, we decided to set about the task with much enthusiasm.

    As it was, he did nothing with much zeal, but sport; and his time was otherwise trifled away, without benefit from books or anything else.

    1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC

    Unless matters take a nastier turn, neither side has much incentive to compromise.

    2011 February 24, “Wisconsin and wider”, in The Economist
  2. 'this much'Used to indicate, demonstrate or compare the quantity of something.

    Take as much time as you like.

    1 more example

    Add this much water and no more.

  3. archaicnonstandardA great number of; many (people).First known use 13th c.

    There wasn't much people about that day.

    1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC
    2 more examples

    ye shall not nede to seke hym soo ferre sayd the Kynge / for as I here saye sir Launcelot will abyde me and yow in the Ioyous gard / and moche peple draweth vnto hym as I here saye

    1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book XX

    When Jesus was come downe from the mountayne, moch people folowed him.

    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew
  4. CaribbeanUKregionalAfrican-Americanmany ( + plural countable noun).First known use 13th c.

    They got so much things to say right now, they got so much things to say.

    1977, Bob Marley, “So Much Things to Say”
adjectivemuch (not comparable)
  1. not comparableobsoleteLarge, great.First known use 12th–16th c.
    1 more example

    Thenne launcelot vnbarred the dore / and with his lyfte hand he held it open a lytel / so that but one man myghte come in attones / and soo there came strydyng a good knyghte a moche man and large / and his name was Colgreuaunce / of Gore / and he with a swerd strake at syr launcelot myȝtely and he put asyde the stroke

    1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “iiij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XX
  2. not comparableobsoleteLong in duration.
adverbmuch (comparative more, superlative most)

comparative more · superlative most

  1. To a great extent.

    However much I eat, I never get fat.

    5 more examples

    I don't like melon much, and I don’t much care for milk chocolate either: I find them both much too sweet.

    He left her, much to the satisfaction of her other suitor.

    That boyfriend of yours is much like the others.

    My English was much the worst, and I'm certainly not much good at math either, of that I'm very much aware.

    Both candidates, who are much of an age, say much the same thing, but the youngest shows much the commoner behavior of the two.

    1. for emphasis or to indicate a great difference

      He is much fatter than I remember him.

      2 more examples

      Honestly, I can't stand much more of this.

      a much warmer room for much nicer people

  2. Often; frequently.

    Does he get drunk much?

  3. 'this much'Used to indicate or compare extent.

    I don't like Wagner as much as I like Mozart.

  4. slangCombining with an adjective or (occasionally) a noun, used in a rhetorical question to mock someone for having the specified quality.

    Jamie's always preaching about how we need to save a planet when she drives literally everywhere she goes. Like, hypocritical much?

    2 more examples

    The moment you've been waiting for—the lowdown on the Overstock hottie. I talked to her by phone last week. (Jealous much, gentlemen? Ad Report Card talks to all the fine ladies.)

    2005 December 28, Seth Stevenson, “What’s With That Overstock.com Ad?”, in Slate, New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2024

    Well, on the grounds of this, what if I told you the brand's latest launch goes against the latter and instead, is the first product in an opaque lip crème line? Screaming, crying, throwing up, much?

    2023 May 12, Lia Mappoura, “I tried Glossier's brand new G Suit lip crèmes so you don't have to – you're welcome”, in Cosmopolitan
  5. obsoleteAlmost.
pronoun
  1. A large amount or great extent; a lot.

    I don't have much to do.

    5 more examples

    From those to whom much has been given much is expected.

    We lay awake for much of the night.

    Much of literature is concerned with stylistics.

    She was in second place for much of the race.

    My wife is not much of a conversationalist.

Much2

proper nounMuch (plural Muches)

plural Muches

  1. A surname from German.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
a great deal ofa lot of
Opposite
little

to a great extent

Similar
a great deala lotgreatlyhighlyloadsplentyvery much

antonym(s) of “to a great extent”

Opposite
lesslittlefewalmostnearly

adjective(quantifier used with mass nouns) great in quantity or degree or extent

Similar
overmuchsuchuntoldincalculable
Opposite
little

adverb(degree adverb used before a noun phrase) for all practical purposes but not completely

Similar
practically

adverbfrequently or in great quantities

Similar
a great dealoften
Also see
a great dealincalculablemightilyoftenovermuchpracticallysuchuntoldway

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

much · determiner, adjective, adverb, pronoun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*méǵh₂s
  2. Proto-Germanic*mikilaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*mikil
  4. Old Englishmiċel
  5. Middle Englishmuchel
  6. Middle Englishmuche
  7. Englishmuch

From Middle English muche (“much, great”), apocopated variant of muchel (“much, great”), from Old English myċel, miċel (“big, much”), from Proto-West Germanic *mikil, from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- (“big, stour, great”). See also mickle, muckle. Cognates Cognate with Scots mickle, mukill, mekil, mikil (“big, large, great, much”), Middle Dutch mēkel (“great, many, much”), Middle High German michel ("great, many, much"; > German michel (“great, big, large”)), Norwegian Bokmål mye (“much”), Norwegian Nynorsk mykje (“much”), Swedish mycket (“much”), Danish meget (“much”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils, “great, many”), Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “large, great”), Modern Greek μεγάλος (megálos, “large, great”). Note that English much is not related to Spanish mucho, and their resemblance in both form and meaning is purely coincidental, as mucho derives from Latin multus and is not related to the Germanic forms. Instead, related to Spanish maño.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Much · proper noun

  1. GermanMuch
  2. EnglishMuch

Two main origins: * Borrowed from German Much. * A variant of Mutch.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek πολύς
  • πολύς (polús)a large amount of
Arabic كَثِير, كَثِيرًا
  • كَثِير (kaṯīr)a large amount of
  • كَثِيرًا (kaṯīran)to a great extent
Bengali অনেক, বহু
  • অনেক (onek)a large amount of
  • বহু (bohu)a large amount of
Bulgarian мно́го, доста
  • мно́го (mnógo)a large amount of
  • доста (dosta)a large amount of
  • бая (baja)a large amount of
  • много (mnogo)to a great extent
  • доста (dosta)to a great extent
  • бая (baja)to a great extent
Catalan molt, molt
  • molta large amount of
  • moltto a great extent
Chinese Mandarin 多, 很多
  • 多 (duō)a large amount of
  • 很多 (hěnduō)a large amount of
  • 好多 (hǎoduō)a large amount of
  • 許多 /许多 (xǔduō)to a great extent
  • 多 (duō)to a great extent
Czech mnoho, moc
  • mnohoa large amount of
  • mocto a great extent
  • mnohemto a great extent
Danish meget
  • megeta large amount of
Dutch veel, veel
  • veela large amount of
  • veel(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
  • veelto a great extent
Esperanto multa
  • multaa large amount of
Estonian palju
  • paljua large amount of
Finnish paljon, paljon
  • paljona large amount of
  • paljon(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
  • paljonto a great extent
French beaucoup, beaucoup
  • beaucoupa large amount of
  • beaucoupto a great extent
German viel, viel
  • viela large amount of
  • viel(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
  • vielto a great extent
Greek πολύ
  • πολύ (polý)to a great extent
Hebrew הַרבֵּה
  • הַרבֵּה (harbé)a large amount of
Hindi अधिक, बहुत
  • अधिक (adhik)a large amount of
  • बहुत (bahut)a large amount of
Hungarian sok, sokkal
  • soka large amount of
  • sokkal(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
  • jóval(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
  • nagyonto a great extent
Icelandic mikill, miklu
  • mikilla large amount of
  • miklu(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
Indonesian banyak
  • banyaka large amount of
Irish a lán, mórán
  • a lána large amount of
  • mórána large amount of
  • go mór(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
Italian molto, molto
  • moltoa large amount of
  • moltoto a great extent
Japanese 沢山, 多くの
  • 沢山 (takusan)a large amount of
  • 多くの (ōku no)a large amount of
  • 多い (ōi)a large amount of
  • 沢山の (takusan no)to a great extent
  • 多い (ōi)to a great extent
Korean 많이, 많은
  • 많이 (mani)a large amount of
  • 많은 (maneun)to a great extent
Latin multus, multum
  • multusa large amount of
  • multumto a great extent
Latvian daudz, daudz
  • daudza large amount of
  • daudzto a great extent
Lithuanian daug, gerokai
  • dauga large amount of
  • gerokai(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
Malay banyak
  • banyaka large amount of
Norwegian Bokmål mye
  • myea large amount of
Persian بسیار
  • بسیار (besiyâr)a large amount of
Polish dużo, wiele
  • dużoa large amount of
  • wielea large amount of
  • bardzoto a great extent
Portuguese muito, um monte de
  • muitoa large amount of
  • um monte dea large amount of
  • muitoto a great extent
Romanian mult, mult
  • multa large amount of
  • multto a great extent
Russian мно́го, нема́ло
  • мно́го (mnógo)a large amount of
  • нема́ло (nemálo)a large amount of
  • о́чень (óčenʹ)to a great extent
  • намно́го (namnógo)to a great extent
  • гора́здо (gorázdo)to a great extent
Slovak veľa, mnoho
  • veľaa large amount of
  • mnohoa large amount of
Spanish mucho, mucho
  • muchoa large amount of
  • muchoto a great extent
Swedish mycket, mycken
  • mycketa large amount of
  • myckena large amount of
  • mycket(with a comparative adjective) for emphasis
  • mycketto a great extent
Tamil நிறைய
  • நிறைய (niṟaiya)a large amount of
Thai มาก, หลาย
  • มาก (mâak)a large amount of
  • หลาย (lǎai)a large amount of
  • มาก (mâak)to a great extent
Turkish çok
  • çoka large amount of
Ukrainian бага́то, чима́ло
  • бага́то (baháto)a large amount of
  • чима́ло (čymálo)a large amount of
  • набага́то (nabaháto)to a great extent
  • бага́то (baháto)to a great extent
Urdu بہت
  • بہت (bahut)a large amount of
Vietnamese nhiều
  • nhiềua large amount of
Yiddish אַ סך, פֿיל
  • אַ סך (a sakh)a large amount of
  • פֿיל (fil)a large amount of

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

chum
Cite this entry
APA

much. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/much

MLA

“much.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/much. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “much,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/much.

Source: much on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.