large-scale
Americanadjective
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very extensive or encompassing; of great scope.
a large-scale business plan.
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made to a large scale.
a large-scale map.
adjective
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wide-ranging or extensive
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(of maps and models) constructed or drawn to a big scale
Etymology
Origin of large-scale
First recorded in 1885–90
Compare meaning
How does large-scale compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Anything described as large-scale is happening in a big way. A large-scale study of the benefits of dark chocolate would require many people and lots of time. And lots of chocolate. Yum. Scale has to do with size, so anything large-scale is huge. A large-scale ad campaign goes all around the country — and maybe around the world. A large-scale military campaign is one that might attack on multiple fronts. Cartoon villains who want to take over the world commit large-scale crimes. A large-scale commercial farm is gigantic, cranking out tons of food. The opposite of large-scale is small-scale.
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.
However, a large-scale acquisition would have been a different matter entirely.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
Expectations were insanely high for this show — Bieber’s first large-scale concert after a few years he spent in the pop-star wilderness recovering from various health ailments of both the physical and mental variety.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026
The Facebook owner has recently lost two large-scale lawsuits, including a landmark trial in California in which a young woman successfully sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
CoreWeave—which first signed a deal with Meta to provide AI cloud infrastructure last fall for about $14.2 billion—said the deal signals accelerating demand for infrastructure capable of supporting complex and large-scale AI workloads.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Lawrence countered that Chicago’s experience with large-scale nuclear research was meager compared with that of the Rad Lab, which had support facilities to spare.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
