giant
Americannoun
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giants
plural
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(in folklore) a being with human form but superhuman size, strength, etc.
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a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.; major figure; legend.
a giant in her field; an intellectual giant.
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(often initial capital letter) any of the Gigantes.
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Mining. monitor.
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Astronomy. giant star.
adjective
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unusually large, great, or strong; gigantic; huge.
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greater or more eminent than others.
noun
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Also (feminine): giantess. a mythical figure of superhuman size and strength, esp in folklore or fairy tales
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a person or thing of exceptional size, reputation, etc
a giant in nuclear physics
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Greek myth any of the large and powerful offspring of Uranus (sky) and Gaea (earth) who rebelled against the Olympian gods but were defeated in battle
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pathol a person suffering from gigantism
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astronomy See giant star
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mining another word for monitor
adjective
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remarkably or supernaturally large
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architect another word for colossal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of giant
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English geant, from Old French, from Latin gigant-, stem of gigās, from Greek Gígās; replacing Old English gigant, from Latin, as above
Explanation
A giant is someone that's unusually enormous. You can also use the word giant to describe something or someone that is really big. That giant green guy over there? That's the jolly green giant. Ho ho ho. A star basketball player might be described as a giant, or a stunningly tall redwood tree, or even a very large business. These giants come from the giants of mythology, huge creatures that are featured in fairy and folk tales and inspired by the giants of Greek myth, who were a separate race of strong, aggressive gods. The Greek root is Gigas, with the plural form Gigantes.
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:
The relocation campaign echoes a tactic employed by software giant Oracle Corp., co-founded by Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
First there was a sale of 185,200 shares on July 28, then a larger 1.7 million share sale on July 30, and then a giant 14.6 million “off-market” sale on Aug. 3.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
A startup that makes giant iron-air batteries that store enough power to last several days has raised a new round of funding valued at $750 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
A rare looping trail of fossilized footprints in Colorado is giving scientists a detailed look at how a giant dinosaur moved 150 million years ago.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
The other half of the bridge looked like a giant water slide.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
He predicted that company sizes may shrink during this transition from industrial giants to tech companies, as small teams of people powered by personal AI agents will be able to run companies at significant scale.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Taylor Farms is one of the largest produce companies in the US and is an important supplier to retail giants Walmart, Costco and Target.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Companies focused on mental health, from startups to giants of the telehealth space, are creating a slew of AI chatbots designed for mental health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The company was founded just two years ago but already rivals leading manufacturers such as Europe's Ducati and Japanese giants Yamaha and Honda with a bike retailing for a fraction of their prices.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
In the Middle Ages, this mysterious group of stones was believed to be either the creation of an ancient race of giants or conjured by Merlin the Magician, who allegedly transplanted it from Ireland.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
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.
