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.
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
Fifa's big idea is to set up the best chance of blockbuster ties in the latter stages of the World Cup.
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025
Still, there’s a very provocative big idea hiding under all theatrics: that once fashion enters the museum and falls into hands of a conservator it becomes an object and effectively “dies.”
From New York Times • May 9, 2024
One of the producers who’s no longer alive, her big idea was that Brad and Gwyneth Paltrow have these dogs that live in that tiny little room in their apartment.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2024
“What was this big idea you had, anyway?”
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
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.
