unusually or comparatively large in size or dimensions.
A great fire destroyed nearly half the city.
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.
highly significant or consequential; important.
the great issues in American history.
a great inventor.
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.
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.
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.
(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.
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
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 )
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.
First recorded before 900; Middle English greet, Old English grēat; cognate with Dutch groot, German gross
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It was a great moment when that putt dropped in," said Henseleit, who will feature for Europe at the Solheim Cup in September.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
“It was great to be on the ground in Arizona with our FBI team leading the charge,” Patel said in an interview on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show that night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
“This group was doing great without me,” Garrett said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Job growth may not be great — but as Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said last week, “job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 2, 2026
Staff members went to great lengths to distribute The Liberator to the people.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Sosa noticed something behind the director; it was a photo of a 150-year-old family quilt, stitched by the director’s great-, great-, great-grandmother and passed through many generations.
From New York Times ● May 30, 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
Rogers’ great-, great-, great-grandfather was born enslaved and went on to become a successful lawyer who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1889 to 1890.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 12, 2021
Graphic: Bond returns in 2021: not so great-
From Reuters ● Mar. 10, 2021
“I mean lost. A mouse in a trap. He saw dead people passing through the walls. Terrible things in the corners of the streets. Now your great- uncle does not go outdoors.”
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
“Now they just added to that, with maybe the best pitcher in the game, certainly one of the greats in this era.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Through 1953 National League Rookie of the Year Jim Gilliam, who spent three seasons with the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, Baker met several Negro League greats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
"That's why you have some of the greats in women's sports. If Title IX and women's sports weren't protected, then you wouldn't hear about any type of women in sport."
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Yet the lasting images from both tournaments are of all-time greats such as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi dancing on the field.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Then she poked his belly with so many greats, Frank rolled onto the floor to escape the tickling.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Artificial intelligence is profoundly altering the digital universe, with the promise of ever greater computing power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
A theory’s credibility can increase simply because someone with greater institutional authority has repeated it.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
Though the winds eased late on Saturday, the greater Athens area and nearby Voiotia and the island of Evia were under near maximum fire risk on Sunday, the civil protection ministry said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
In July, Nvidia signed an open letter urging greater support of open models and asking policymakers to avoid “premature restrictions.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Recognizing Bobby’s greater need for money than the capture of a title, however prestigious, Bisguier noted: “Evidently, his mature judgment is not solely confined to the chessboard.”
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The findings also raise the possibility that one of cancer's greatest strengths may eventually be used against it.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
That might be the greatest testament of all to the Dodgers’ player development system, particularly considering all of their winning means they draft at the end of every round, every year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Most prefer a more benign approach of creating more attractive housing alternatives than Moyn’s proposal of forcing people out of their homes — which would undoubtedly have its greatest impact on lower-income older homeowners.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
“I need hardly say that the chance of working with you is the greatest honour of my life,” he wrote to Stravinsky.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 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
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.
