Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a general term of great approval; also as an excl.

1900		Sporting Times 7 Apr. 2/1: Excellent, my dor Dearling, a massive idea indeed!
1951		A. Buckeridge Jennings Follows a Clue (1967) 16: ‘Yes, massive idea,’ agreed Darbishire.
1956		B. Behan Quare Fellow (1960) Act I: Ah, that’s massive, sir.
1979		H. Leonard A Life (1981) Act I: I got a great old lie in. Massive.
1982		(con. 1930s–50s) E. Mac Thomáis Janey Mack, Me Shirt is Black 19: The blonde outa Fullers was only massive, she was like a film star.
1988		Buju Banton ‘Boom Bye Bye’ 🎵 Here come di deejay Buju Banton / Come fi give de massive satisfaction.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 72/2: massive! adolescent exclamation of approval.
1996		R. Doyle Woman Who Walked Into Doors 105: He scored a hat-trick on Sunday. Isn’t that massive now?
2000		Guardian Editor 10 Mar. 16: Look, I’ve a great idea [...] why don’t we do the whole street? Massive.
2000		Indep. on Sun. Rev. 20 Feb. 63: Football’s a massive one for us.
2016		Guardian G2 8 Aug. 🌐 One sumptuously shot 20-minute set piece [...] features coke dealing, violence and a massive dance routine.

2. (orig. W.I., Rasta) respected; ext. as massive large for emphasis.

1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 72/2: massive! adolescent exclamation of approval.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

3. (US campus, also mass) large, a lot of.

1981		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 4: mass, massive – a large amount [...] I’ve got mass studying to do tonight.
1983		Eble Campus Sl. Nov. 3: massive humanity – large crowd.