Prodigious

adjective

• amazing or wonderful : very impressive
• very big

Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prodigious

I’ve come across this word in the reading excerpt “A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport”. This word can be found in the sentence “He used to be a prodigious drinker and drug-taker, famous for late-night altercations, not always coherent public appearances and marathon hours at trendy spots like the Groucho Club”. In this case, prodigious means very big. When I read ” used to be a prodigious drinker and drug-taker”, I inferred that prodigious meant big but I was still unsure if it actually meant big.