much

adjective

\ˈməch

more\ ˈmȯr

\; most\ ˈmōst

Definition of much

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a : great in quantity, amount, extent, or degree there is much truth in what you say taken too much time

b : great in importance or significance nothing much happened

2 obsolete : many in number

3 : more than is expected or acceptable : more than enough the large pizza is a bit much for one person

too much

1 : wonderful, exciting That rock concert was too much!

2 : terrible, awful

much

adverb

more; most

Definition of much (Entry 2 of 3)

1a(1) : to a great degree or extent : considerably much happier

(2) : very much gratified

b(1) : frequently, often

(2) : by or for a long time didn't get to work much before noon

c : by far was much the brightest student

2 : nearly, approximately looks much the way his father did

as much

1 : the same in quantity not quite as much money

2 : to the same degree

much

noun

Definition of much (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : a great quantity, amount, extent, or degree She gave away much of what she owned

2 : something considerable or impressive was not much to look at

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about much

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Examples of much in a Sentence

Adverb

The new car is much better on gas mileage. They both talk too much. Thank you so much for your help. He is much interested in the project. They were much pleased by the compliment. She doesn't visit her family much. The town looks much the same. We came to much the same conclusion. We left the house much as we found it.

Noun

much of what people think they know about words is inaccurate or downright false

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Higgins arrived on the island from Nevada in March without much Spanish, but brought 40 years of management experience. — Fortune, "Puerto Rico's Bankrupt Utility Has No Leader After Pay Scandal," 12 July 2018 Spokesman Ryan Clem said the agency is working to provide records requested under Indiana's public records law that could shed some light on how much former Kiel Bros. sites have cost the state. — Brian Slodysko, Houston Chronicle, "Pence family gas stations left costly environmental legacy," 13 July 2018 What will be key to watch, Mr. Samana said, is how much trade tariffs disrupt the global supply chain and potentially drive up inflation. — Akane Otani, WSJ, "U.S. Stocks Rise, Post Weekly Gains," 13 July 2018 It had been wildly underutilized over the past decade, being owned by someone who lived out of state much of the time and whose overall focus was not on the success of downtown Elgin. — Mike Danahey, Elgin Courier-News, "Real estate manager has bought 14 buildings in Elgin in 4 years — he's 'taking a bet' on the city," 13 July 2018 For the first time, researchers have used gene editing tools in adult monkeys to disable a gene throughout much of the liver. — Jocelyn Kaiser, Science | AAAS, "Gene edited monkeys offer hope for heart disease patients," 9 July 2018 The network's new original series explores just how much the decade's culture has changed since the 1990s, thanks to events like the invention of Facebook and the introduction of the world's first iPhone. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "On TV This Week: All the Top Shows and Movies You Need to Catch," 7 July 2018 There were few people as much fun to watch work as my father. — Brendan Leonard, Outside Online, "Learning to Be Funny," 9 July 2018 So how much of it is in infecting the investigation today? — Fox News, "Rudy Giuliani: Strzok's defense is ridiculous, pathetic," 13 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

The infectious tune is much more than a viral dance record, though, as the OVO rapper penned a quasi-love letter directed at former lovers and women he's been fascinated with in his life. — Michael Saponara, Billboard, "Decoding All of Drake's References on 'In My Feelings'," 13 July 2018 But beyond these five acts, the Cal State Fair has much more to offer in terms of music – here's a full list of all the dates and performers for this July. — Adesuwa Agbonile, sacbee, "5 Cal State Fair musical acts you don’t want to miss this year," 13 July 2018 The body looks slick, with a new and thoroughly modern appearance that's much more in keeping with the modern style of truck: high belt line, smaller windows and chunkier style. — Aaron Bragman, USA TODAY, "Review: Ford's revamped Expedition SUV moves to the front of the pack," 13 July 2018 In fiscal 2017, the share of local fliers rose much faster than the airport's traffic as a whole, jumping more than 6 percent. — Ely Portillo, charlotteobserver, "Charlotte’s airport manages ‘tricky balance’ between low-cost hub and fancy new gates," 12 July 2018 There is much more to celebrate than the festival’s remarkable longevity. — Claudia Bauer, SFChronicle.com, "San Francisco’s Ethnic Dance Fest celebrates 40 years," 12 July 2018 The world moves much faster nowadays, and Rubino family has gone two doors away to add Ralph’s Grab & Go (764 S. Ninth St., 215-627-6011). — Michael Klein, Philly.com, "The sassy, hoagie-mouthed chef is back | Let's Eat," 11 July 2018 Related Apart from the fine, the case strikes at the core of Google’s advertising business, which the company says is growing much faster on mobile devices than on traditional desktop computers. — Sam Schechner, WSJ, "Google to Face Multibillion-Euro European Union Antitrust Fine," 10 July 2018 The sculptures hew to the simplicity of the roadside stack, but Loesberg’s drawings show the Jersey barriers willy-nilly, in a variety of much more inefficient configurations. — Susan Dunne, courant.com, "An Eye For 'The Built Environment' Fuels Exhibit At Real Art Ways," 14 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'much.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for much

Adjective

Middle English muche large, much, from michel, muchel, from Old English micel, mycel; akin to Old High German mihhil great, large, Latin magnus, Greek megas, Sanskrit mahat

Adverb

see much entry 1

Noun

see much entry 1

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