Vast Meaning
/vɑːst/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjVery large or wide (literally or figuratively).
adjVery great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially extent.
Sentence Examples
This vast continent is abundant in fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels are abundant in that vast continent.
He wanted to share his vast art collection with the world.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ desert stretched for hundreds of miles without any signs of life.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Sahara is a ____ desert that covers many millions of square kilometers in the northern part of Africa today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus (“void, immense”). Related to waste and German Wüste.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"They and the airline itself described an internal process that requires multiple departments to manually redesign the airline’s schedule – a system that works “the vast majority of the time,” Southwest said in a statement."
— 2022 December 30, Gregory Wallace, “Insiders at Southwest reveal how the airline’s service imploded”, in CNN:
"The exiguity and ſmallneſſe of ſome ſeeds extending to large productions is one of the magnalities of nature, ſomewhat illuſtrating the work of the Creation, and vaſt production from nothing."
— 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, page 136:
"Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital."
— 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:
"Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals."
— 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 172:
"the empty, vast, and wandering air"
— c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ desert stretched for hundreds of miles without any signs of life.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Sahara is a ____ desert that covers many millions of square kilometers in the northern part of Africa today.