big
1 Americanadjective
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
-
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
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(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
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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
- biggish adjective
- bigly adverb
- bigness noun
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”
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.
“One of the biggest risks to the economy in 2026 is clearly wealthy consumers pulling back,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.
From MarketWatch
“For investment, the big question is when fiscal stimulus promises will kick in,” he said.
Notably, it created a reporting unit for its crown-jewel Services business, which helps move money around the globe for big companies and institutions.
That includes commercial ships, including a big order from the shipping subsidiary of Hanwha, as well as vessels for the U.S.
Meadow Valley’s population was 500, and the big town was nearby Quincy, the county seat, with about 5,000 residents, but it still had an orchestra and she and her husband were both members.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
