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huge gulf

huge gulf

1 4.9
A very large difference between two people, groups, or ideas
  • noun
translation icon : gran brecha
  • There is a huge gulf in experience and expectation between us as a minority of developers, and the greater Mac user base.

Examples

  • There's a huge gulf between, say, your average Christian, Muslim, or vague deist, and an anti-vax wacko or a global warming denialist.

    Blog text (9)
  • We need to address the huge gulf between the rich and the poor in our society.

  • We are now one split nation, with a huge gulf dividing the employed from the unemployed.

  • There's always been a huge gulf between academics and the profession.

    Blog text (23)
  • Eating, or more to the point "not eating" with my Mozambican colleagues, signifies the huge gulf between us in which economics and politics, gender and race, language and culture all figure prominently.

    Academic text (1998)
  • That's a huge gulf, large enough that the difference in reliability between ORCA and Narwhal could boil down to the number of bodies or brains thrown at the problem.

    Blog text (28)
  • While I take issue with the snarky "dumbed down" comment, it is true that there is a huge gulf between mediocre, generic Chinese food and authentic regional cuisine.

    Blog text (25)
  • There is a huge gulf between heavy censorship that keeps certain concepts from the populace or the repression of religion, and preventing bigots from using speech to harm others.

    Blog text (4)
  • He also refers to the ties of loyalty that linked sections of the French military to the Montagnards and the religious sect leaders of Cochinchina in order to illustrate the huge gulf that lay between French and American perceptions of Indo-China.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The huge gulf in their opinions made it hard to find common ground.

Synonyms

gap
vshuge gulf
365 1.7

A difference between two groups or amounts

is stronger stressing a very large or important separation
disparity
vshuge gulf
75 6.7

A large unfair difference in people's chances or treatment

is more neutral about broad large separation not mainly unfairness
separation
vshuge gulf
74 2.5

A space between two things that keeps them apart

is metaphorical and stresses a large difference rather than physical space
gulf
vshuge gulf
53 4.7

A wide gap between people, groups, or ideas

is specifically large or significant rather than just wide
huge difference
vshuge gulf
46 2.7

A change that makes something much better or much worse

focuses more on a wide separation than on outcome change

Antonyms

361 1.0

A situation in which people have the same opinion or give their approval

217 2.8

People or parts joined and acting as one

157 2.7

A likeness between things that makes them seem related

How Wide

huge gulf
1 4.9
gulf
53 4.7
to divide
680 1.1
gap
148 1.0
difference
1.0

Surface Forms

huge gulf singular
huge gulfs plural

Morphology

huge + gulf

The meaning 'a large or significant difference' is directly and compositionally derived from 'huge' (very large) modifying 'gulf' (a gap or division). This adjective+noun combination follows a common and predictable metaphorical pattern (gulf = gap) found in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Huge gulf gives a simple image: a gulf is a wide area of sea that separates two lands, and huge shows it is very large. So, it now means a very big 'difference' or 'separation' between people, groups, or ideas.