Antonyms for mass


Grammar : Noun
Spell : mas
Phonetic Transcription : mæs


Definition of mass

Origin :
  • "lump, quantity, size," late 14c., from Old French masse "lump, heap, pile; crowd, large amount; ingot, bar" (11c.), and directly from Latin massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," probably from Greek maza "barley cake, lump, mass, ball," related to massein "to knead," from PIE root *mag- "to knead" (cf. Lithuanian minkyti "to knead," see macerate). Sense extended in English 1580s to "a large quantity, amount, or number." Strict sense in physics is from 1704.
  • As an adjective from 1733, first attested in mass meeting in American English. mass culture is from 1916 in sociology (earlier in biology); mass hysteria is from 1914; mass media is from 1923; mass movement is from 1897; mass production is from 1920; mass grave is from 1918; mass murder from 1880.
  • noun body of matter; considerable portion
  • noun bulk, measurement
Example sentences :
  • The mass was an ornate one, though not more so than they were accustomed to at Beaulieu.
  • Extract from : « The Armourer's Prentices » by Charlotte M. Yonge
  • We missed our morning mass, it will do us no harm to hear Nones in the Minster.
  • Extract from : « The Armourer's Prentices » by Charlotte M. Yonge
  • Gone is the mass of the mountains, the stoniness of rocks, the hard solidity of iron.
  • Extract from : « The Conquest of Fear » by Basil King
  • In the nearer ranks we may discern the variety of ingredients that compose the mass.
  • Extract from : « Biographical Sketches » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • I thought he was going to give that mass of flowers to me, but he did not.
  • Extract from : « Her Father's Daughter » by Gene Stratton-Porter
  • Women in the mass were very displeasing to look at, and they frightened you.
  • Extract from : « The Foolish Lovers » by St. John G. Ervine
  • And you have no notion what a mass of work he has got to get through every day.
  • Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
  • From the outer edges of this mass men were sinking to the ground.
  • Extract from : « In the Valley » by Harold Frederic
  • Then like a mass of jelly out of its mould I plopped onto my chair.
  • Extract from : « It Happened in Egypt » by C. N. Williamson
  • She was a wiry woman, a mass of muscles animated by an eager energy.
  • Extract from : « Tiverton Tales » by Alice Brown

Synonyms for mass

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019