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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for big shot
Noun
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Bores, once an engineer at Palantir (the AI company involved in helping ICE), has earned the ire of his former bosses, and other tech bro heavyweights, by forcefully campaigning on regulation.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026 -
Here, that body includes an array of West Coast jazz heavyweights, including Carlos Niño on percussion; Nate Mercereau on guitar, percussion, and wind; and Sam Reid and Jamael Dean, both on piano.—
Linnie Greene,
Pitchfork,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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These figures place the organic prototype within the performance envelope of conventional lithium-ion batteries, while introducing a new materials platform based on organic chemistry rather than metal-heavy cathodes, CarNewsChina writes.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Feb. 2026
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Brian Dennehy played the heavy in it.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Miller and Crawford are closer than ever to the bigs.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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Booker stood up to the Boilermakers’ bigs, blocking three shots of his own, playing a season-high 35 minutes three days after being iced out of the rotation against the Buckeyes.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Anthopoulos wants a big gun Obviously, the Braves are shopping to augment their starting rotation.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
18 Feb. 2026
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The comedy big guns come out to pay their respects to the groundbreaking genius whose comedy is still radical — Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Dave Chappelle, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman are just a few.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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More Coloradans are seeing the big wheel spin in their favor each year.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
5 Feb. 2026
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The cars that Geely showcased at CES, in Las Vegas, were large SUVs with big wheels, opulent interiors, and three rows of seats—not unlike a Ford Explorer.—
Patrick George,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Only little boys are called big boys.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Jan. 2026
-
There are big boys throwing their weight around, and there are wild skinnies with flying arms and spinning back-kicks, chopping out their emergency version of personal space.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Despite this evening’s setback, Marty Supreme remains a heavy hitter at next month’s Oscars, with nine nominations, including Best Film, Director, and Actor.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
22 Feb. 2026
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To get Gwyn off the ground, Paltrow tapped fashion-industry heavy hitter Sofía Menassé, who cut her teeth at Alexander Wang, Maison Margiela, and The Row.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Anthony becomes the 12th Red Sox big leaguer to commit to the WBC.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
16 Feb. 2026
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Howie Kendrick, the former longtime big leaguer and now a Phillies special assistant, attempted to be a peacemaker by snatching the beer.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Big shot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/big%20shot. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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