- a variation of bigg.
big
1 Americanadjective
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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-
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generous; magnanimous
that's very big of you
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( in combination )
big-hearted
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(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 is a big win for the kingdom, which has long sought to develop a domestic nuclear energy industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
His big break came in 1979, when he ran San Francisco Supervisor Quentin Kopp’s campaign for mayor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
"One of the things I noticed this morning is the trees are going into autumn colour, and that's a big worry, it's not even August yet."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Rumors are aswirl that Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East emissary Jared Kushner played a big role.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Flipping around, Harry smiled, the expression big, stretching across her face.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Markowicz said that the cost of refinancing outweighed the benefit for now, particularly because they plan to move to a bigger house in the near future.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
When it comes to the Commonwealth Games, names don't get much bigger than Chad le Clos.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
But an even bigger reason is that we continue to know relatively little about its origin.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
That effectively means Roth contributions can be bigger than those to traditional accounts, which are eventually taxed on withdrawal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
It reminded him of the front of the Siren’s Cove, only bigger and with more leaves.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Tencent Holdings fell 7.05% and NetEase declined 7.4%, both notching their biggest one-day percentage drop in more than a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The biggest, during the global financial crisis, lasted 19 months from 2008 through 2010 and saw an underperformance of 22%.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
The strategy is designed to address one of the biggest obstacles in cancer care: drug resistance.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
What began as online outrage over exam scandals has snowballed into protests against India's education system, posing one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term in office.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Which is one of the biggest reasons I want to go home to the Ranch.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
I've bigged myself up about doing an Ironman, but now I'm starting to regret that!
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025
"We bigged him up before kick off for his technical abilities, and he has just shown them again here. This guy is an outstanding player."
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2023
“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
Across the world in Los Angeles, the Compton Cricket Club is bigged in by Cloth's Bullets – a song, like the CCC itself, dedicated to fighting homelessness and gang culture with civility and dignity.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 25, 2013
O bigged hae they a bigly bour, Fast by the roaring strand; And there was mair mirth in the ladyes' bour, Nor in a' their father's land.
From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 2 Consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, Collected in The Southern Counties of Scotland; with a Few of Modern Date, Founded Upon Local Tradition by Scott, Walter, Sir
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
GP I really don’t want it to sound like I’m bigging myself up.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
"Let me just clear that up because obviously Leicester fans know how much respect I've got for them, their owners and constantly bigging up Leicester and what they do," Wright said on Twitter external-link.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2021
In nothing, however, did his molesting temper cause so much disturbance, as when, in the year 1809, the bigging of the new school-house was under consideration.
From The Provost by Galt, John
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.
