mighty

English

Alternative forms

mightie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English mighty, mightie, mighti, myghty, miȝty, maȝty, from Old English mihtiġ, mehtiġ, meahtiġ, mæhtiġ (“mighty”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahtīg (“mighty”), from Proto-Germanic *mahtīgaz (“mighty”), equivalent to might +‎ -y.

Cognate with Scots michty, mychty, Saterland Frisian machtich, Dutch machtig, German Low German machtig, German mächtig, Swedish mäktig.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪti/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪti/, [ˈmʌɪɾi]
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪti

Noun

mighty (plural mighties)

(obsolete, rare) A warrior of great strength and courage.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Chronicles 11:12:
  And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties.

Adjective

mighty (comparative mightier, superlative mightiest)

Very strong; possessing might.
He's a mighty wrestler, but you are faster than him.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Job 9:4:
  Wise in heart, and mighty in strength.
Very heavy and powerful.
Thor swung his mighty hammer.
He gave the ball a mighty hit.
(colloquial) Very large; hefty.
- 1809, Washington Irving, A History of New York
  Having listened attentively to the statement of Wandle Schoonhoven, giving an occasionable grunt, as he shovelled a mighty spoonful of Indian pudding into his mouth […]
Accomplished by might; hence, extraordinary; wonderful.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 11:20:
  His mighty works
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, lines 637–638, page 42:
  Under his ſpecial eie / Abſtemious I [Samson] grew up and thriv'd amain; / He led me on to mightieſt deeds / Above the nerve of mortal arm / Againſt the uncircumciſ'd, our enemies.
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, OCLC 223202227:
  Mighty was their fuss about little matters.
(informal) Excellent, extremely good.
Tonight's a mighty opportunity to have a party.
She's a mighty cook.

Derived terms

high and mighty
mightiness
unmighty

Translations

very strong, possessing might

Arabic: قَوِيّ‎ (qawiyy), قَادِر‎ (ar) (qādir), مُقْتَدِر‎ (muqtadir), عَزِيْز‎ (ar) (ʿaziyz), قَدِيْر‎ (qadiyr), جَبَّار‎ (jabbār)
Armenian: հզոր (hy) (hzor)
Bulgarian: силен (bg) (silen), мощен (bg) (mošten)
Catalan: poderós (ca)
Chinese: 强大的 (qiángdà de)
Czech: mocný (cs)
Danish: mægtig
Dutch: machtig (nl)
Egyptian:

(wsr)
Esperanto: potenca
Finnish: mahtava (fi), voimallinen (fi), voimakas (fi)
French: puissant (fr)
Georgian: ძლიერი (ʒlieri), ძლევამოსილი (ʒlevamosili)
German: gewaltig (de), mächtig (de)
Gothic: 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (mahteigs)
Greek:
Ancient: κραταιός (krataiós), κρατύς (kratús), ἰσχυρός (iskhurós), καρτερός (karterós)
Irish: neartmhar, mórchumhachtach, tréan
Italian: potente (it), possente (it) m
Japanese: 強大な (きょうだいな, kyōdai na)
Korean: 힘센 (himsen)
Latin: imperiōsus, potens (la)
Norwegian: mektig
Occitan: poderós (oc) m
Persian: هزبر‎ (fa) (hozabr)
Polish: mocarny (pl), potężny (pl)
Portuguese: poderoso (pt)
Quechua: qhapaq
Russian: могу́щественный (ru) (mogúščestvennyj)
Sanskrit: उग्र (sa) (ugra), विभूति (sa) (vibhūti)
Scottish Gaelic: cumhachdach
Spanish: poderoso (es)
Swedish: mäktig (sv)
West Frisian: machtich

Adverb

mighty (not comparable)

(colloquial, dialect) Very; to a high degree.
You can leave that food in your locker for the weekend, but it's going to smell mighty bad when you come back on Monday.
Pork chops boiled with turnip greens makes a mighty fine meal.
- 1665 June 7 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys; Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 28th, 1665 (Lord’s Day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, OCLC 1016700617:
  The lady is not heard of, and the King mighty angry and the Lord sent to the Tower.
- 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 82:
  'He is a mighty handsome man!' 'I don't think so,' said Tess coldly.
- 1912, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World‎:
  "You see, between you an' me close-tiled, I look on this South American business as a mighty serious thing, and if I have a pal with me I want a man I can bank on."
- 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., OCLC 18478577; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, volume 1, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, OCLC 988016180:
  I was mighty glad that our entrance into the interior of Caprona had been inside a submarine rather than in any other form of vessel. I could readily understand how it might have been that Caprona had been invaded in the past by venturesome navigators without word of it ever reaching the outside world, for I can assure you that only by submarine could man pass up that great sluggish river, alive.
- 1964, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Motorpsycho Nitemare”:
  I pounded on a farmhouse / Lookin' for a place to stay / I was mighty, mighty tired / I had come a long, long way
- 1979, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, performed by Sylvester:
  And I know my love, it's about that time / Make me feel, mighty real

Related terms

might
almighty