Etymology From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus (“void, immense”). Related to waste and German Wüste.
1
Very large or wide (literally or figuratively).
The Sahara desert is vast.
There is a vast difference between them.
1 more example
They and the airline itself described an internal process that requires multiple departments to manually redesign the airline’s schedule – a system that works “the vast majority of the time,” Southwest said in a statement.2022 December 30, Gregory Wallace, “Insiders at Southwest reveal how the airline’s service imploded”, in CNN:
2
Very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially extent.
The exiguity and ſmallneſſe of ſome ſeeds extending to large productions is one of the magnalities of nature, ſomewhat illuſtrating the work of the Creation, and vaſt production from nothing.1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, page 136:
Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:
1 more example
Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 172:
the empty, vast, and wandering airc. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
vast
noun
Etymology From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus (“void, immense”). Related to waste and German Wüste.
they have seemed to be together, though absent, shook hands, as over a vast, and embraced, as it were, from the ends of opposed winds.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]: