much
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /mʌt͡ʃ/
ipa: /mʊt͡ʃ/
ipa: /mʌt͡ʃ/
ipa: /mʌt͡ʃ/
ipa: /mʊt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -ʌtʃ (Southern England, US, Canada)
Forms: form: more
form: most
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: I don't like melon much, and I don’t much care for milk chocolate either: I find them both much too sweet.
text: However much I eat, I never get fat.
text: He left her, much to the satisfaction of her other suitor.
text: That boyfriend of yours is much {like - the same as} the others.
text: My English was much the worst, and I'm certainly not much good at math either, of that I'm very much aware.
text: Both candidates, who are much of an age, say much the same thing, but the youngest shows much the commoner behavior of the two.
text: They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.
ref: 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC, page 9:
text: I can’t lie (I miss you much). Watching every day that goes by (I miss you much).
ref: 2008, “Right Now (Na Na Na)” (track 1), in Freedom, performed by Akon:
text: Tangling with Ziv, Cameron caught him with a flailing elbow, causing the Israeli defender to go down a little easily. However, the referee was in no doubt, much to the displeasure of the home fans.
ref: 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3-0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport:
text: From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
ref: 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
glosses: To a great extent.
examples: text: He is much fatter than I remember him.
text: Honestly, I can't stand much more of this.
glosses: To a great extent.
for emphasis or to indicate a great difference
raw_tags: with a comparative adjective
examples: text: Does he get drunk much?
glosses: Often; frequently.
examples: text: I don't like Wagner as much as I like Mozart.
qualifier: 'this much'
glosses: Used to indicate or compare extent.
raw_tags: in combinations such as 'as much'
examples: text: Jamie's always preaching about how we need to save a planet when she drives literally everywhere she goes. Like, hypocritical much?
text: 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.)
ref: 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:
text: 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?
ref: 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:
glosses: Combining with an adjective or (occasionally) a noun, used in a rhetorical question to mock someone for having the specified quality.
glosses: Almost.
Synonyms: sense: to a great extent
word: a great deal
sense: to a great extent
word: a lot
sense: to a great extent
word: greatly
sense: to a great extent
word: highly
sense: to a great extent
word: loads
sense: to a great extent
word: plenty
sense: to a great extent
word: very much