- a variation of bigg.
big
1 Americanadjective
-
bigger,
comparative
-
biggest
superlative
-
large, as in size, height, width, or amount.
a big house; a big quantity.
- Antonyms:
- little
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of major concern, importance, gravity, or the like.
a big problem.
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outstanding for a specified quality.
a big liar; a big success.
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important, as in influence, standing, or wealth.
a big man in his field.
- Synonyms:
- consequential
-
big enough to know better.
-
my big sister.
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doing business or conducted on a large scale; major in size or importance.
big government.
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consisting of the largest or most influential companies in an industry.
Big steel wants to lower prices, but the smaller mills don't.
-
Informal. known or used widely; popular.
Nouvelle cuisine became big in the 1970s.
-
magnanimous; generous; kindly.
big enough to forgive.
-
boastful; pompous; pretentious; haughty.
a big talker.
-
a big voice.
-
(of clothing or a clothing design) made of or distinguished by voluminous fabric that is loosely or softly shaped and fitted.
a big shirt; the big look.
-
(of a wine) having more than average flavor, body, and alcoholic content.
-
filled; brimming.
eyes big with tears.
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Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. pregnant.
-
Obsolete. very strong; powerful.
adverb
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Informal. boastfully; pretentiously.
to act big; to talk big.
-
Informal. with great success; successfully.
to go over big.
noun
idioms
-
big with child. great.
-
be big on, to have a special liking or enthusiasm for.
Mother is big on family get-togethers.
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
of great or considerable size, height, weight, number, power, or capacity
-
having great significance; important
a big decision
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important through having power, influence, wealth, authority, etc
the big four banks
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(intensifier usually qualifying something undesirable)
a big dope
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informal considerable in extent or intensity (esp in the phrase in a big way )
-
-
elder
my big brother
-
grown-up
when you're big, you can stay up later
-
-
-
generous; magnanimous
that's very big of you
-
( in combination )
big-hearted
-
-
(often foll by with) brimming; full
my heart is big with sadness
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extravagant; boastful
he's full of big talk
-
(of wine) full-bodied, with a strong aroma and flavour
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conceited; unduly self-confident
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in an advanced stage of pregnancy (esp in the phrase big with child )
-
informal enthusiastic about
that company is big on research
adverb
-
boastfully; pretentiously (esp in the phrase talk big )
-
in an exceptional way; well
his talk went over big with the audience
-
on a grand scale (esp in the phrase think big )
verb
-
to build
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to excavate (earth) into a pile
Usage
What is a basic definition of big? Big describes something that is large in height, weight, size, or amount. Big can also describe something that is significant or, informally, something that is popular. Big has many other senses as an adjective and a few as an adverb and a noun. Big can describe things that are tall, wide, massive, or plentiful. It’s a synonym of words such as large, great, and huge, describing something as being notably high in number or scale in some way.
- Real-life examples: The Grand Canyon is a big hole in the ground. Jupiter is a big planet. You would need a big box to hold 300 books. Skyscrapers are big buildings.
- Used in a sentence: The restaurant brought out a big table to seat all 30 of us.
- Real-life examples: Jumping out of a plane without a parachute is a big mistake. A comet hitting Earth would be a big issue. The discovery of life on Mars would be big news.
- Used in a sentence: The mold in our house turned into a big problem when we found out it was toxic.
- Real-life examples: Disco was big in the 1970s. The internet started to become big in the 1990s when computers became affordable and connection speeds improved.
- Used in a sentence: The actor was big 10 years ago but now nobody knows who he is.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of big1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English big(ge), beg(ge); of unknown origin
Origin of big2
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English biggen, beggen, buggen, originally, “to inhabit, reside,” from Old Norse byggja, byggva “to inhabit, settle,” cognate with Old English bū(i)an, German bauen “to build, erect”
Explanation
Something big is just plain large or important. A big class has a lot of kids. A big room is larger than average. A big newspaper story is one that makes the front page. Some people hate the idea of "big government" which means a federal government that plays a significant role in the day-to-day lives of its people. You might talk big at your reunion, but you really haven't traveled the world. (You went to Hoboken and Walla Walla!) Big can also pertain to age, as in "Will you be a big girl and get dressed all by yourself?"
Vocabulary lists containing big
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Oracle has been borrowing money to finance its buildout of cloud-computing capacity as it chases big opportunities with OpenAI and other AI players.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Many are waiting to see how Anthropic performs before taking any big steps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Last week, concerns about AI spending triggered a sharp sell-off in big tech stocks after the latest earnings showed massive investment without clear signs of a return.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
And I think that destination brings up a big issue about what Black women are and aren’t allowed to say or how they’re “allowed” to be comedic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Flipping around, Harry smiled, the expression big, stretching across her face.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Of course, not everyone can afford to wait to collect a bigger Social Security check, and some people are actively worried about the solvency of the system.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
The question is much bigger than a corporate battle over the semantics of artificial intelligence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
"The view is beautiful. They're bigger than trees," 23-year-old Toukta Phonsala told AFP inside her wooden stilt house in Dak Wai village, her baby bouncing on her lap.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
But the jobless numbers suggest there is a bigger economic problem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
The library took up one pie slice of the atrium, but it felt bigger than the other parts somehow.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
He said: “The person who has had the biggest impact on my life was Harford Steele.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Anthropic is seeking a reported valuation of between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in its IPO, which would make it one of the biggest offerings of all time.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Even your biggest hits have something of an enigmatic quality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
His biggest concern was smaller, poorly funded utility companies which may still be relying on older, vulnerable equipment.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
But there he was, climbing the biggest beanstalk he’d ever seen, just like the one etched onto his left hand.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
I've bigged myself up about doing an Ironman, but now I'm starting to regret that!
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025
“This agreement has been bigged up as something that will be a solution to the world’s food shortage, and it is just not,” said Tracey Allen, an agricultural commodities strategist at JPMorgan Chase.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2022
This album has been bigged up by professional critics over the age of 50, but they are all closet fans.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 24, 2020
Brendan was never as good as people bigged him up to me.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2015
Oh, Bessie Bell and Mary Grey, They were twa bonnie lasses; They bigged a bower on yon burn side, And theekt it over wi' rashes.
From The Trial by Charlotte Mary Yonge
The coach of Ireland bigging up an Ireland wing?
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
Another massive performance and others aside from Sinfield might be bigging him up.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 19, 2023
GP I really don’t want it to sound like I’m bigging myself up.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
"Let me just clear that up because obviously Leicester fans know how much respect I've got for them, their owners and constantly bigging up Leicester and what they do," Wright said on Twitter external-link.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2021
No," said Argyll, "it was in Doom, the place of a small landowner, Lamond, whose castle—it is but a ramshackle old bigging now—you may have noticed on your left as you rode round.
From Doom Castle by Neil Munro
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