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 technology giant announced Monday that it plans a $10 billion stock offering.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
On Changxing Island across from Shanghai, two neighboring shipyards are cranking out commercial ships, from natural-gas carriers to giant containerships, for a big roster of global customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
They originally formed between the present-day orbits of Uranus and Neptune but were scattered outward as the giant planets shifted positions early in the solar system's development.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
She has a giant stuffed alligator on her bed and an enormous sword hanging over the kitchen counter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Clouds of ptarmigan rise like giant white snowflakes into a bright sun in front of the dogs —sometimes two, three hundred of them.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Traditional media giants squeeze a hit through theaters, merchandise, theme parks and licensing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Shares in US tech giants were pummeled on Friday, capping a week of earnings results that raised questions on Wall Street about whether the AI spending bonanza was sustainable.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
A multi-year outlook is practically unheard of for cloud giants, much less Amazon, he added.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
DoorDash announced Thursday it will buy rival Instacart for $17 billion in a deal that the company says will help local businesses compete with delivery giants such as Amazon and Walmart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
"It was my old enemy the wizard Freston who turned the giants into windmills. He did not want me to win."
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
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