Big Five

American  

noun

History/Historical.

1. the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan during World War I and at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

2. (after World War II) the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France.

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Big Five British  

noun

1. the five countries considered to be the major world powers. In the period immediately following World War II, the US, Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France were regarded as the Big Five

2. the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the buffalo, and the leopard: considered to be the five principal African wild animals, esp as sought by those on safari

3. Also: Big Four.   Big Three.  a small powerful group, as of banks, companies, etc

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Example Sentences

From its desultory beginnings, Random House has grown into a behemoth, one of the industry’s Big Five.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Kruger's fauna -- including the famed Big Five grouping of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo -- had largely escaped the flooding because animals had sensed the danger and moved to higher lying areas.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

The crime intelligence boss claimed the Big Five led a network with widespread influence across the country.

From BBC • Dec. 23, 2025

Beyond academia, HarperCollins became the first Big Five commercial publisher to seal an A.I. deal in late 2024 with an unnamed company—allegedly Microsoft, according to anonymous sources.

From Slate • Nov. 3, 2025

We give them a questionnaire, like the Big Five Inventory, carefully designed to elicit telling responses.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell