big idea
Americannoun
-
any plan or proposal that is grandiose, impractical, and usually unsolicited.
You're always coming around here with your big ideas.
-
purpose; intention; aim.
What's the big idea of shouting at me?
Etymology
Origin of big idea
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25
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.
But then, the agency people unveiled their big idea: to create a campaign centered around reanimated digital avatars of our dead loved ones.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
The big idea was to take Tesla’s learnings from its self-driving technology, which uses software and cameras to autonomously drive automobiles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 3, 2026
The big idea, as with the Brixham fishermen's clinic, is to better tailor health services to local communities, and offer people more checks and tests to stop them falling sick in the first place.
From BBC • Aug. 7, 2025
Watching Ally and Jay bicker about work while dodging blades, the movie’s one big idea beams in all-caps: “His Girl Friday the 13th.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2025
And by the time he had run down the street and up the steps and through the door and upstairs to his room, it wasn’t just a big idea.
From "Frindle" by Andrew Clements
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.
