- a variation of bigg.
big
1 Americanadjective
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bigger,
comparative
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biggest
superlative
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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.
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Informal. known or used widely; popular.
Nouvelle cuisine became big in the 1970s.
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magnanimous; generous; kindly.
big enough to forgive.
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boastful; pompous; pretentious; haughty.
a big talker.
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a big voice.
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(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.
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(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.
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Informal. with great success; successfully.
to go over big.
noun
idioms
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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
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of great or considerable size, height, weight, number, power, or capacity
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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
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grown-up
when you're big, you can stay up later
-
-
-
generous; magnanimous
that's very big of you
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( 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 )
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informal enthusiastic about
that company is big on research
adverb
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boastfully; pretentiously (esp in the phrase talk big )
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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
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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:
"It's a big moment as an American to be able to drive around DC. It's an event that America is putting on and something that's very special."
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
But, and it’s a big but, he used debt to boost returns, to the tune of 4 times leverage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
“And so we kind of backfilled the defensive part of it. But to lose the bat, that’s a big loss.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Pressurised by more than a year's worth of growing suspicion and a rush of online attention, the issue had become too big to ignore.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
“No, Aunt J, I’m not on drugs. Promise. I just don’t feel like making a big deal out it.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Enright says counterfeit devices are a bigger problem outside of the U.S., and that the scheme is typically to make a quick buck off the initial sale, not to hack the buyer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics — and lately, it’s been taking a bigger slice out of my wallet.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
The bigger promise of mRNA may be using it to prevent cancer in people at high risk, before the disease takes hold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
The allegations in these indictments apparently are that they went beyond exaggerating the threats and actually supported these organizations to make them bigger threats so they could then monitor them or do whatever they did.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
Minutes later, a tiny black spot arose in the sky above the Shipwreck, growing bigger and bigger as it came nearer.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
"The biggest message to John Swinney and everybody who's taking part in this is that we need some co-ordination that's not political. We're needing a plan."
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Yet its campaign against the Bauhaus, arguably the state’s only global tourist draw, has left even its biggest supporters perplexed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
But my biggest memory was the family sending someone to get him food from Burger King instead of Lawry’s at a media event that week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Stroke remains one of the world's biggest health problems and ranks as the third leading cause of death and disability combined.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
The mill stood above all the houses, the biggest building by far.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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
When erthe appone erthe hase bigged vp his bourris, 12 Than schalle erthe for erthe suffire scharpe scowrrys5.
From Erthe Upon Erthe by Various
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
Patrick Vieira has been bigging up Michael Olise, and warning off potential suitors.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 11, 2022
GP I really don’t want it to sound like I’m bigging myself up.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
This is no mine ain house, I ken by the bigging o't'.
From Waverley: or, 'Tis sixty years since by Sir Walter Scott
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.
