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jillion

/ˈdʒɪljən/
IPA guide

Other forms: jillions

A jillion is an enormous number of something. If your next door neighbor has too many cats to count, go ahead and say they've got a jillion cats.

Similar to words like zillion, tons, or oodles, jillion is perfect for talking about a huge but vague number. It's also hyperbolic — in other words, it's an exaggeration. The word is modeled on actual numbers like million and billion, so it almost sounds like a real quantity. But like zillion, jillion is imprecise. Its origin is vague too, described as an "arbitrary coinage" first used around 1940.

Definitions of jillion
  1. noun
    a very large indefinite number (usually used as an exaggeration)
    see moresee less
    type of:
    large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity
    an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude
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