big government

noun

variants: or Big Government

Definition of big government

chiefly US

: government that is regarded as infringing upon the rights of individual citizens because of its extensive bureaucracy and intrusive regulations and policies Big government, in the minds of many Americans, had become the problem, not the solution.— Tom Morganthau Especially coming from a Republican, the Hyde proposals smack uncharacteristically of Big Government, critics say.— John Cloud

Examples of big government in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Those on the left are believed to be in favour of big government—high social spending, generous welfare and an ambitious regulatory scope—and those on the right opposed. — The Economist, "A large share of Republicans hold progressive economic views," 21 June 2019 Earlier this year, the governor called for further reductions and has vowed to change a culture in which bigger government budgets are seen as measures of success. — James Freeman, WSJ, "Hey, Little Spenders," 9 Oct. 2018 If local and state governments can’t make the rent go down, then the biggest government of them all might need to step in. — Noah Smith, Twin Cities, "Noah Smith: America’s battle over housing is just getting started," 16 June 2019 Overnight, Wall Street became big government socialists and begged for the largest federal bailout in American history. — Conor Lynch, The New Republic, "The Left’s Failure to Envision a World Without Capitalism," 12 June 2019 Overnight, Wall Street became big government socialists and begged for the largest federal bailout in American history — some $700 billion from the Treasury and trillions in support from the Federal Reserve. — Tara Golshan, Vox, "Read: Bernie Sanders defines his vision for democratic socialism in the United States," 12 June 2019 Socialism doesn't work, a big government doesn't work. — Fox News, "Rick Harrison opens up about his journey to 'Pawn Stars'," 6 Aug. 2018 The larger lesson is that sooner or later the middle class always gets the bill for bigger government. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "A Gas Tax Economics Lesson," 10 Sep. 2018 Paul Sancya/AP Florida and Arizona are inextricably linked in Americans’ minds as the lands of baseball spring training and old retirees who hate welfare but depend for their standard of living on big government programs. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "4 winners and one loser from primary elections in Florida, Arizona, and Oklahoma," 29 Aug. 2018

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