as in heavyweight
one of high position or importance within a group
a meeting at which all of the big shots in the company were present
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for big shot
Noun
-
South Korea’s Kospi recently hit an all-time high, but the index appears to be overly reliant on two heavyweights — Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix — according to BTIG analyst Jonathan Krinsky in a note.—
Justina Lee,
CNBC,
28 May 2026 -
For a group of British retail heavyweights, the government’s move to close a tax loophole on low-value goods from overseas by 2029 would come too little, too late.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Footwear News,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
According to my mom, allowing the product to sit on these surfaces makes cleaning much less scrubbing-heavy, which is a win in her book.—
Aliyah Rodriguez,
The Spruce,
27 May 2026
-
Essentially, those who already coached ‘big club’ football — high pressing, possession-heavy — tend to perform quite well.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
25 May 2026
Noun
-
Spurs bigs Tim Duncan and David Robinson were dominant in Ewing’s absence.—
Esfandiar Baraheni,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
-
There are a few free agent bigs who are probably out of Denver’s price range (Mitchell Robinson, Robert Williams III, Kristaps Porzingis).—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
The Minnesota Wild’s big guns showed up in a big way Saturday night, and the Avs looked wobbly for the first time in this tournament in a 5-1 loss in Game 3 at Grand Casino Arena.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
10 May 2026
-
Against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, Wrexham twice raced into a two-goal lead only for the half-time of introduction of the Premier League’s ‘big guns’ to underline how far the Welsh club still has to go if their owners’ top flight ambitions are to be realised.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
6 May 2026
Noun
-
For all of its strengths, my one wish for the Weber Kettle is better wheel nuts holding the big wheels in place.—
Matthew Korfhage,
Wired News,
17 May 2026
-
The car's quirky appearance is enhanced by a sporty body kit and big wheels that are pushed to the farthest edges.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Staal made it 2-0 a minute and change later by winning a big boy net-front battle with Josh Anderson to pound in his second of the playoffs and continue his line’s dominance over the Canadiens.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
-
But taking on one of Wall Street’s big boys, and then getting squashed for it, ranks right up there.—
Liz Peek,
Washington Post,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
And there will be some pretty heavy hitters doing battle.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 May 2026
-
Returning heavy hitters include Gagosian, Gladstone Gallery, Marian Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, kurimanzutto, Mendes Wood DM, Pace Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac, White Cube, and David Zwirner.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
That was a gift from former Indy ball teammate and ex-big leaguer Matt Adams.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Around him was not a single big leaguer, minor leaguer, or anyone with a heater topping 90 miles per hour.—
Sam Blum,
New York Times,
9 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Big shot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/big%20shot. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
