big picture

noun, often capitalized B&P

Definition of big picture

: the entire perspective on a situation or issue —used with the

Examples of big picture in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Luckily, there are some fans who see the bigger picture: Meredith's happiness. — Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, "'Grey’s Anatomy' Fans Can’t Stop Sparring Over Meredith and DeLuca's Relationship," 7 Mar. 2019 Leitner coached himself to embrace the bigger picture. — Bryce Miller, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Ted Leitner's return to the booth soothes concerned Padres fans," 20 June 2018 Don't lose sight of the forest — the big picture — for the trees. — The Star-telegram Editorial Board, star-telegram, "Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. Hold developers accountable.," 1 May 2018 The reward was to sit back and see a big picture of the NFL and the game of football, as opposed to being in these buildings during the season with blinders on. — Dave Skretta, The Seattle Times, "Chiefs turning to Spagnuolo to shore up sieve-like defensive," 20 Feb. 2019 Take a deep breath—we’re not striving for 100% perfection to reach your goals, and remember that the big picture of health includes so much more that just your food. — SELF, "5 'Healthy' Things You Should Stop Doing, According to a Registered Dietitian," 17 July 2018 The big picture window wasn’t meant to be so large when the homeowner and Herrmann began collaborating on the design. — Samantha Weiss Hills, Curbed, "A micro cabin in Vermont offers an artist refuge," 15 Oct. 2018 Look at the big picture view of your nocturnal awakenings, Dr. Okeke-Igbokwe says. — Nina Bahadur, SELF, "How Many Times Is It Normal to Wake Up at Night?," 27 Sep. 2018 As far as Tess’s coming out storyline, that’s a slower burn, sort of like a bigger picture through the whole series. — Jessica Radloff, Glamour, "This Is Us Will Reveal 'All the Answers' Next Week, So Get Ready," 15 Jan. 2019

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

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Last Updated

5 Apr 2019

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The first known use of big picture was in 1904

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