great
adjective
unusually or comparatively large in size or dimensions.
great
American
[grayt]
/ greɪt /
adjective
-
greater,
comparative
-
greatest
superlative
-
unusually or comparatively large in size or dimensions.
A great fire destroyed nearly half the city.
- Antonyms:
- small
-
large in number; numerous.
Great hordes of tourists descend on Europe each summer.
-
unusual or considerable in degree, power, intensity, etc..
great pain.
-
wonderful; very good; first-rate.
We had a great time.
That's great!
-
being such in an extreme or notable degree.
great friends;
a great talker.
-
exceptionally outstanding; notable; remarkable.
a great occasion.
- Synonyms:
- noteworthy
-
highly significant or consequential; important.
the great issues in American history.
- Antonyms:
- insignificant
-
a great inventor.
- Antonyms:
- insignificant
-
of noble or lofty character.
great thoughts.
-
chief or principal.
the great hall;
his greatest novel.
-
of high rank, official position, or social standing.
a great noble.
- Antonyms:
- insignificant
-
much in use or favor.
“Humor” was a great word with the old physiologists.
-
of extraordinary powers; having unusual merit; very admirable.
a great statesman.
-
of considerable duration or length.
We waited a great while for the train.
-
Informal.
-
being of one generation more remote from the family relative specified (used in combination).
a great-grandson.
adverb
noun
-
greats,
plural
-
great
plural
-
a person who has achieved importance or distinction in a field.
She is one of the theater's greats.
-
great persons, collectively.
England's literary great.
-
Also called great go. (often initial capital letter) greats,
-
the final examination for the bachelor's degree in the classics and mathematics, or Literae Humaniores, especially at Oxford University and usually for honors.
-
the course of study.
-
the subject studied.
-
interjection
-
(used to express acceptance, appreciation, approval, admiration, etc.)
-
(used ironically or facetiously to express disappointment, annoyance, distress, etc.).
Great! We just missed the last train home.
idioms
great
1
British
/ ɡreɪt /
adjective
-
relatively large in size or extent; big
-
relatively large in number; having many parts or members
a great assembly
-
of relatively long duration
a great wait
-
of larger size or more importance than others of its kind
the great auk
-
extreme or more than usual
great worry
-
of significant importance or consequence
a great decision
-
-
of exceptional talents or achievements; remarkable
a great writer
-
( as noun )
the great
one of the greats
-
-
arising from or possessing idealism in thought, action, etc; heroic
great deeds
-
illustrious or eminent
a great history
-
impressive or striking
a great show of wealth
-
much in use; favoured
poetry was a great convention of the Romantic era
-
active or enthusiastic
a great walker
-
doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale
what a great buffoon
he's not a great one for reading
-
(often foll by at) skilful or adroit
a great carpenter
you are great at singing
-
informal excellent; fantastic
-
informal (intensifier)
a dirty great smack in the face
-
archaic
-
pregnant
great with child
-
full (of)
great with hope
-
-
(intensifier, used in mild oaths)
Great Scott!
-
informal
-
to be informed about
-
to be enthusiastic about or for
-
adverb
noun
great-
2
British
prefix
-
being the parent of a person's grandparent (in the combinations great-grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandparent )
-
being the child of a person's grandchild (in the combinations great-grandson, great-granddaughter, great-grandchild )
great
More Idioms
Usage
What are other ways to say great? Something that is great may be unusually or comparatively large in size or number. How is great different from the adjectives large and big? Find out more on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
greatnessnoun
-
half-greatadjective
-
overgreatadjective
-
quasi-greatadjective
-
greatlyadverb
-
overgreatlyadverb
-
quasi-greatlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of great
First recorded before 900; Middle English greet, Old English grēat; cognate with Dutch groot, German gross
Explanation
As an adjective great describes things that are very good, large, or important — like a great movie, a great forest, or a great battle that changed the course of a war. Great can also be a noun: a person who is a legend in his or her field, like Aretha Franklin, a soul great, or Wayne Gretzky — a hockey great who became known as "the Great One." Only a few people qualify for the distinction of being a great — it takes a remarkable talent that continues to awe people long after the person's heyday.
Vocabulary lists containing great
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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:
Matchmakers go to great lengths to conceal their clients’ identities ahead of a first meeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2026
Standardised national tests play an outsized role in career trajectories for South Koreans, making their results - and efforts to unduly inflate those results - of great importance.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2026
“Putting the platforms in was a great experiment in terms of biology,” he said, “and tipping them over would be a great experiment again.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2026
Oprah Winfrey introduced the legacy of the late Vandross, while Usher, another of music's great crooners, delivered a rendition of "Never Too Much."
From Barron's ● Nov. 15, 2026
He blinked a moment at seeing people in the hall, then turned with great deliberation to the meter on the wall.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
He also is the great- great-grandson of Robert Smalls.
From Reuters ● Oct. 10, 2023
I’ve lived to this age, I’ve seen my seven children grow up, my 21 grandchildren and 65 great- and great-great grandchildren.’
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2023
Think about that: The most plausible explanation for this series of events is that George Richardson’s father, my great- great-great grandfather, was born aboard a slave ship.
From Slate ● Dec. 19, 2022
An investigator could then build out a large family tree, first identifying the ancestors the two cousins have in common, such as great- or great-great-grandparents, and then investigating individual branches from those ancestors.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2021
The great-grandfather was the old man who lived with them, as the river-pirate great- uncle was the old man who lived with us.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
And he fought back tears again as two of the sport’s all-time greats, Hamilton and Max Verstappen, raised him onto their shoulders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
“We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today,” Jackman wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Longtime co-star Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine, remembered Stewart as both "one of the greats of stage and screen" and "a tremendous friend and man."
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Kane has been developing and maturing into one of England's all-time greats ever since those early loan spells at Leyton Orient and Millwall.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
It wasn’t until the sixth round, at which point Bobby had barely compiled an even score, that he was tested by one of the true greats of the game, David Bronstein of the Soviet Union.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The 39-year-old software engineer bought his townhouse in the greater Seattle area in 2015 after renting for years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2026
The AI system, however, identified a group with an annual death rate of 7%, demonstrating a greater ability to distinguish patients facing serious danger.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
Morgan, meanwhile, has utterly inhabited the character, down to her own greater Manchester-Bolton accent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2026
Jasper Inventor, head of Greenpeace's delegation in Antalya, said some developing nations worried "a stronger reference" to 1.5C could mean greater pressure to cut emissions without extra financial help.
From Barron's ● Nov. 15, 2026
Anger pulses through my veins as the morning sun gets higher, and I walk with greater determination, pulling the donkey and Mother along with me.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Carteiro, an Indigenous leader, told AFP that deforestation "is the greatest source of suffering that we have in the Amazon, along with mining."
From Barron's ● Nov. 15, 2026
Here’s a brilliant man who built one of America’s greatest companies, yet he fell prey to a Chinese honeypot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2026
The discovery could eventually help doctors recognize Alzheimer's years before symptoms develop, potentially allowing treatment to begin when it has the greatest chance of protecting the brain.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
One of the greatest Wales wins of all time.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
“Why—why won’t you let yourself accept this? You could have value! Influence! Power beyond your greatest imagination!”
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
