big brother

noun

1

: an older brother

2

: a man who serves as a companion, father figure, and role model for a boy

3

Big Brother [Big Brother, personification of the power of the state in 1984 (1949) by George Orwell]

a

: the leader of an authoritarian state or movement

b

: an all-powerful government or organization monitoring and directing people's actions

Examples of big brother in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Like his dad and big brother, Chosen also loves sports. —Emy Lacroix, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025

Liam, when caught on a bad night, would frequently taunt his big brother onstage. —Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025

Blossom was the story of a teenage girl making her way through life with single father Nick (Ted Wass), two big brothers, Joey (Joey Lawrence) and Anthony (Michael Stoyanov), and her best friend Six (Jenna von Oÿ). —Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 26 Aug. 2025

The reel captures just that—the quiet joy of a big brother keeping watch over his baby sibling, a relationship that Eisenmann said has only grown stronger since Daniel's birth. —Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for big brother

• another
• godmother
• grandmother
• stepbrother
• stepmother
• mother
• nother
• other
• smother
• souther