big brother
noun
an elder brother.
Jump To:
-
big brother
-
Big Brother
Big Brothernouna person, organization, etc, that exercises total dictatorial control
big brother
Americannoun
-
an elder brother.
-
(sometimes initial capital letters) a man who individually or as a member of an organized group undertakes to sponsor or assist a boy in need of help or guidance.
-
(usually initial capital letters) the head of a totalitarian regime that keeps its citizens under close surveillance.
-
(usually initial capital letters) the aggregate of officials and policy makers of a powerful and pervasive state.
-
Citizens Band Radio Slang. a police officer or police car.
Big Brother
British
noun
-
a person, organization, etc, that exercises total dictatorial control
-
a television gameshow format in which a small number of people living in accommodation sealed off from the outside world are constantly monitored by TV cameras. Viewers vote each week to expel a person from the group until there is only one person left, who wins a cash prize
Usage
What does Big Brother mean? A big brother can be an older male, related or not, who protects a younger person. Big Brother (usually uppercase) also refers to an omnipresent, usually governmental authority that monitors everyone's every move. How is Big Brother pronounced?[ big bruhth-er ]
Etymology
Origin of big brother
1860–65; 1949 big brother for defs. 3, 4, the epithet of a dictator in G. Orwell's novel 1984
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:
I suspect they are terrible for privacy, and I dread what the future brings with some big brother company knowing all my intimate health info but I am still grateful for how much they help.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
“He was a big brother to me,” Díaz said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Luckily his big brother, still only 19 himself, appeared to spot it and was seen smiling up at him from the pitch.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
“I’ve seen him grow up; he’s seen me grow up. He’s my big brother in everything I do creatively and also in real life,” Stillz says about his bond with Bad Bunny.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Theo writes an anguished letter to his big brother, the only time ever he addresses him as “Mon tres cher frere” my very dear brother.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Collins and El Mayer struck up a relationship after entering the Big Brother house but concerns about his alleged "toxic" behaviour had grown among fans.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Big Brother contestants live together for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with almost everything they do captured on camera.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Andrew Tate, who is a self-proclaimed "misogynist", first rose to fame after a 2016 appearance on the British version of reality TV show Big Brother.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Otherwise you may find yourself in an empty parking lot, staring at where your Honda Accord used to be and wishing you hadn’t been so worried about Big Brother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
But the face of Big Brother seemed to persist for several seconds on the screen, as though the impact that it had made on everyone’s eyeballs were too vivid to wear off immediately.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
