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 artificial-intelligence giant alerted Philadelphia police two months after one of its models submitted the false information.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
They said the British energy giant should be held responsible because of its past and current greenhouse gas emissions associated with exploration, production and sale of fossil fuels.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
The Surge has pulled its giant foam finger saying “DEBATES” out of storage, because friends, it is debate season.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2026
Netflix plans a substantial round of layoffs as the streaming giant faces rising competition and pressure to retain its subscribers, according to people familiar with the job cuts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Its grand prize is a rainbow sunfish, and as far as giant stuffed animals go, it’s one of the nicest.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Also in view is the beginning of earnings season this week, with banking giants JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America due to report.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
But with such footballing royalty back in the big time, where can you find Europe's current sleeping giants?
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
The move followed news that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was buying spectrum licenses to help build a mobile network and compete with the telecom giants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Fashion giants on both sides of the Atlantic are underestimating the Chinese shopper at their own peril.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
“But Gaea is supposed to wake in Greece. That’s where the giants are gathering.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
