bigger; biggest
1
a
: large or great in dimensions, bulk, or extent
a big house
also
: large or great in quantity, number, or amount
a big fleet
b
: operating on a large scale
big government
c
of a letter
: capital sense 1
2
a
: filled with or characterized by enthusiasm and interest
I'm a big fan of soy foods but urge you to choose them wisely.—
Andrew Weil
: active and enthusiastic
Andrew WeilMy mother is a big baker, and so was my grandmother …—Melissa Parks
Melissa ParksI'm not a big shopper, so for me to actually like a store is really saying something.—Matt Cameron
Matt Cameron
b
: expressed in an enthusiastic or unrestrained way : hearty
greeted me with a big hug
3
a
: chief, preeminent
the big issue of the campaign
b
: of great importance or significance
the big moment
c
: magnanimous, generous
was big about it
d
: outstandingly worthy or able
a truly big man
e
: imposing, pretentious
using big words
also
: marked by or given to boasting
big talk
4
informal
: more advanced in age : older
my big brother
: more mature
His teachers all told me he was excited about riding the bus, feeling like a big boy now.—Laurie Frey
Laurie Frey5
: popular
soft drinks are very big in Mexico—Russ Leadabrand
Russ Leadabrand6
a
: of great force
a big storm
b
obsolete
: of great strength
Sir Launcelot was big and strong again.—Thomas Malory
Thomas Malory7
8
: full-bodied and flavorful
—used of wine
bigly
adverb
bigness
noun
1
a
: to a large amount or extent
won big
b
: on a large scale
think big
2
: in a loud or declamatory manner
also
: in a boasting manner
talk big
3
: hard
hits her forehand big
1
: an individual or organization of outstanding importance or power
2
basketball, informal
: a big player : a center or forward whose large size and strength are used to control play near the basket
But, the problem is that you MUST have guards. You can't play five bigs.—Martin Manley
Martin Manley
Phrases
big on
: strongly favoring or liking
also
: noted for
she is big on blushing —Arnold Hano
Arnold Hano 
Synonyms
Adjective
- consequential
- earth-shattering
- earthshaking
- eventful
- historic
- important
- major
- material
- meaningful
- momentous
- monumental
- much
- significant
- substantial
- tectonic
- weighty
Noun
- big boy
- big cheese
- big gun
- big leaguer
- big shot
- big wheel
- big-timer
- bigfoot
- biggie
- bigwig
- fat cat
- heavy
- heavy hitter
- heavyweight
- high-muck-a-muck
- high-muckety-muck
- honcho
- kahuna
- kingfish
- kingpin
- major leaguer
- muckety-muck
- muck-a-muck
- mucky-muck
- nabob
- nawab
- nibs
- nob [chiefly British]
- pooh-bah
- poo-bah
- wheel
Examples of big in a Sentence
Adjective
a big glass of soda
She moved to a bigger city.
the biggest city in the state
He led a big group through the museum.
She works for a big company.
He organized a big advertising campaign.
We had a big fund-raiser for the school.
Adverb
He talks big about his plans, but he hasn't done much yet.
Noun
with that new promotion he's now one of the bigs in the company
the big story that year was the election of the president
Recent Examples on the WebThania Garcia, Variety, 13 Apr. 2024
The week’s biggest stories O.J. Simpson dies O.J. Simpson, whose murder trial riveted and divided the world, dies at 76.
—Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
The biggest hit of his career, Combs' take is pretty straightforward, letting Chapman's beautiful lyrics and melodies lead the way.
—Journal Sentinel, 13 Apr. 2024
But Take Note This can be a messy activity, so be sure to let your little explorer dig out their dinosaurs outdoors or over a big trash bag for easy cleanup.
—Ashley Ziegler, Parents, 13 Apr. 2024
In fact, across her nine studio albums, Del Rey has seemingly become even more herself, taking bigger experimental swings and offering longer, more eyebrow-raising track titles along the way.
—Lyndsey Havens, Billboard, 13 Apr. 2024
Widely considered one of the biggest achievements in European medieval engineering, the pedestrian bridge spans the Arno River with colorful buildings that house dozens of jewelry shops jutting out of its sides.
—Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
Places like us, and some of the other big children's hospitals still do well, but the smaller places are not filling all the places.
—Sharon Coolidge, The Enquirer, 2 Apr. 2024
With the threat of third parties potentially siphoning votes, there's a need for the Biden campaign to spend big to try to bring all of his 2020 voters back into the fold.
—Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 1 Apr. 2024
NBC News, 7 Apr. 2024
Timberlake, one of the seven KU seniors honored pregame, hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half to put Kansas up big over rival Kansas State.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2024
These adjustments to the current profession can pay off big in the long-term, increasing your expertise and improving your skill set in your field.
—Ryan Derousseau, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
The sophomore guard has consistently come up big down the stretch.
—Jason Williams, The Enquirer, 31 Jan. 2024
Coach Andy Reid remains at the helm and star tight end Travis Kelce has come up big in the playoffs for Kansas City once again, breaking the NFL record for postseason catches in the process.
—Ayrton Ostly, USA TODAY, 8 Feb. 2024
Purdy found Kittle on a gutsy fourth-down play, and then Jennings came up big again.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2024
What might be most impressive is his ability to come up big in big moments.
—Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2024
Earlier this year, Club Chalamet broke big over photos of Chalamet and Kylie Jenner at the Renaissance tour.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2023
Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
There are Sherpas with the money and names who have reached and continue to reach the summit ahead of them, but State is up there now, man, comfortable mingling with the bigs.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2024
Their bigs weren’t intimidated by Mississippi’s length, as many national prognosticators expected.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 21 Mar. 2024
His goal is to lock down the other team’s best guard and be able to switch onto bigs with ease.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 2 Apr. 2024
And now injuries have hit and ravaged his roster, including both bigs (Eduardo Andre and Enoch Boakye) and guard Donovan Yap.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Feb. 2024
In that situation, the weakside wing is charged with dropping and blocking out the big.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2024
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, who took over the job when Milwaukee’s brass decided to fire Adrian Griffin with a 30-13 record, has been around a few talented and dominant bigs throughout his NBA career.
—Shane Young, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
This will be billed as a battle of the sophomore bigs with OSU’s Raegan Beers (18.2 points, 11.1 rebounds) taking on UCLA’s Lauren Betts (15.0 points, 8.6 rebounds), but guards will likely be the game-changers in this matchup.
—USA TODAY, 16 Feb. 2024
Adjective
He’s mastered a distinctive range, too, collaborating with Latin music’s biggest stars — Kali Uchis, Karol G and Becky G, just to name a few — and along the way, has represented the recent increase of regional Mexican music’s popularity in the United States and other parts of the world.
—Thania Garcia, Variety, 13 Apr. 2024
The week’s biggest stories O.J. Simpson dies O.J. Simpson, whose murder trial riveted and divided the world, dies at 76.
—Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
The biggest hit of his career, Combs' take is pretty straightforward, letting Chapman's beautiful lyrics and melodies lead the way.
—Journal Sentinel, 13 Apr. 2024
But Take Note This can be a messy activity, so be sure to let your little explorer dig out their dinosaurs outdoors or over a big trash bag for easy cleanup.
—Ashley Ziegler, Parents, 13 Apr. 2024
In fact, across her nine studio albums, Del Rey has seemingly become even more herself, taking bigger experimental swings and offering longer, more eyebrow-raising track titles along the way.
—Lyndsey Havens, Billboard, 13 Apr. 2024
Widely considered one of the biggest achievements in European medieval engineering, the pedestrian bridge spans the Arno River with colorful buildings that house dozens of jewelry shops jutting out of its sides.
—Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
Places like us, and some of the other big children's hospitals still do well, but the smaller places are not filling all the places.
—Sharon Coolidge, The Enquirer, 2 Apr. 2024
With the threat of third parties potentially siphoning votes, there's a need for the Biden campaign to spend big to try to bring all of his 2020 voters back into the fold.
—Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 1 Apr. 2024
Adverb
Horne also came up big in Arizona State’s lone tournament game, crossing over defender Rondel Walker to create some space and then burying a straightaway 3-pointer to tie the game with 15.6 seconds left and finishing with a team-high 17 points in a narrow loss to TCU.
—NBC News, 7 Apr. 2024
Timberlake, one of the seven KU seniors honored pregame, hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half to put Kansas up big over rival Kansas State.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2024
These adjustments to the current profession can pay off big in the long-term, increasing your expertise and improving your skill set in your field.
—Ryan Derousseau, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
The sophomore guard has consistently come up big down the stretch.
—Jason Williams, The Enquirer, 31 Jan. 2024
Coach Andy Reid remains at the helm and star tight end Travis Kelce has come up big in the playoffs for Kansas City once again, breaking the NFL record for postseason catches in the process.
—Ayrton Ostly, USA TODAY, 8 Feb. 2024
Purdy found Kittle on a gutsy fourth-down play, and then Jennings came up big again.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2024
What might be most impressive is his ability to come up big in big moments.
—Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2024
Earlier this year, Club Chalamet broke big over photos of Chalamet and Kylie Jenner at the Renaissance tour.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2023
Noun
The Warriors’ starting lineup, with double bigs, Andrew Wiggins and the Splash Bros., closed the half on a 9-0 run to give Golden State a 65-50 lead.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
There are Sherpas with the money and names who have reached and continue to reach the summit ahead of them, but State is up there now, man, comfortable mingling with the bigs.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2024
Their bigs weren’t intimidated by Mississippi’s length, as many national prognosticators expected.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 21 Mar. 2024
His goal is to lock down the other team’s best guard and be able to switch onto bigs with ease.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 2 Apr. 2024
And now injuries have hit and ravaged his roster, including both bigs (Eduardo Andre and Enoch Boakye) and guard Donovan Yap.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Feb. 2024
In that situation, the weakside wing is charged with dropping and blocking out the big.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2024
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, who took over the job when Milwaukee’s brass decided to fire Adrian Griffin with a 30-13 record, has been around a few talented and dominant bigs throughout his NBA career.
—Shane Young, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
This will be billed as a battle of the sophomore bigs with OSU’s Raegan Beers (18.2 points, 11.1 rebounds) taking on UCLA’s Lauren Betts (15.0 points, 8.6 rebounds), but guards will likely be the game-changers in this matchup.
—USA TODAY, 16 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'big.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective, Adverb, and Noun
Middle English, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect bugge important man
First Known Use
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 6b
Adverb
1568, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Noun
1833, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of big was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing big
Dictionary Entries Near big
Cite this Entry
“Big.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
big
1 of 2 adjective
bigger; biggest
1
: of great force
a big storm
2
a
: large in size, bulk, or extent
a big house
big government
a big city
b
: large in number or amount
a big fleet
big money
c
: capital entry 1 sense 2
big letters
3
: of great importance
my big chance
a big star in movies
4
: being older
my big sister
bigness
noun
big
2 of 2 adverb1
: in a big way
win big
2
: so as to boast
talk big
More from Merriam-Webster on big
Nglish: Translation of big for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of big for Arabic Speakers
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