庞大

• Pinyin: páng dà
• Hanzi breakdown: 庞 = 广 + 龙 (vast dragon-scale structure); 大 = person with arms outstretched (big, great)

Meaning

Enormous; of very great size, scale, or quantity; used for things that are impressively or overwhelmingly large.

Typically applied to abstract or institutional scale — organisations, datasets, projects, systems — rather than the physical size of individual objects. Often carries a sense of being unwieldy or difficult to manage.

Examples

1. 该工程涉及庞大的资金投入和人力资源调配。 This project involves massive financial investment and large-scale manpower allocation.
2. 政府面临着规模庞大的历史遗留债务压力。 The government is under pressure from a huge amount of legacy debt.
3. 这家跨国企业拥有庞大的全球销售网络。 This multinational corporation has an enormous global sales network.

Usage Guide

Context: business, government, economics, journalism

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 该数据库存储了庞大的用户行为数据，需要专业团队维护。(The database stores an enormous volume of user behaviour data and requires a dedicated team to maintain.)
• 重组如此庞大的国有机构需要数年时间和大量政策配合。(Restructuring such an enormous state-owned organisation will take years and require extensive policy coordination.)

Don't Say

• 他有一个庞大的苹果 — use 很大 or 巨大 for the physical size of individual objects; 庞大 fits systems, organisations, and scale

Origin & History

庞 (vast, complex, dragon-scale) + 大 (big, great)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal