big brother

noun

Definition of big brother

1 : an older brother

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

3 capitalized both Bs [ 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

Justin seems to be a great big brother to his three siblings and, for that reason, would make an awesome dad. — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, "All the Signs That Hailey Baldwin is Pregnant with Justin Bieber’s Baby," 25 Mar. 2019 There's the kid who's absolutely thrilled to be a big brother or sister, and then there's the kid who wants nothing less than to share their parents' love with another human. — Emma Baty, Redbook, "This Little Boy's Honest Reaction to Finding Out He Was Going to Be a Big Brother Is Hilarious," 31 May 2017 The Yeti Nano outputs 24-bit 48kHz audio and, like its big brother, doesn’t rely on digital signal processing (DSP). — Jeff Dunn, Ars Technica, "The Ars Holiday Gift Guide 2018—good tech for the home and home office," 19 Nov. 2018 Middleton and Prince William posted a similar photo of big brother Prince George with Charlotte when she was just born. — refinery29.com, "The First Photos Of Prince Louis Are Here — & Kate Took Them," 6 May 2018 Darling round-faced Kabir is 7 or 8, and his big brother Aryan is on the cusp of adolescence, the two of them crossing perilously from Turkey into Greece. — Laura Collins-hughes, New York Times, "Review: ‘Flight’ Has No Live Actors. But Its Story of Two Afghan Boys Feels So Real.," 12 Feb. 2018 Its big brother, the Kalk OR, released last year, runs about $13,000 and has an estimated top speed of 46 mph. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "This Swedish E-Motorbike Is Boxy, Beautiful, and Badass," 8 Feb. 2019 Matt provided such a safe calm strength, my mommy and sissy were there to cheer me on, and of course my birth angels to make sure all was well and big brother (downstairs deep in legos). — Marie Claire, "Hilary Duff Just Shared an Intimate Video of Her Daughter's Home Water Birth," 25 Mar. 2019 Ncis is better than that stupid big brother reality show. — Megan Stein, Country Living, "CBS Sparks Outrage Among 'NCIS' Fans After Temporarily Replacing the Show," 23 Jan. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'big brother.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about big brother

Dictionary Entries near big brother

Statistics for big brother

Last Updated

12 May 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for big brother

The first known use of big brother was in 1809

See more words from the same year

Comments on big brother

What made you want to look up big brother? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

disparage

to speak slightingly about or to degrade

Test Your Vocabulary

Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!

Which is a synonym of fuliginous?

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ