as in heavyweight
one of high position or importance within a group
interviewed by several bigwigs on the hospital's staff
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Recent Examples of bigwig
In short, Jeffrey Selingo, a former bigwig at The Chronicle of Higher Education, embedded himself into the admissions department at three schools — one of which just happened to be Davidson College.
—
Charlotte Observer, 15 Dec. 2025
Red Army officer Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang) is released from a Siberian prison — where he’s being held for committing innumerable needless wartime atrocities — by a KBG bigwig (Richard Brake) to ensure Aatami never sees Finnish soil again.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Elsewhere on the black and gold carpet outside the Ray Dolby Ballroom on Sunday night, Hollywood bigwigs such as Sydney Sweeney, Kate Hudson and Zoey Deutch brought golden age glamour with sophisticated updos and curly bobs.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 17 Nov. 2025
Other Party bigwigs expressed disappointment, too, from the progressives Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to the milquetoast Democratic National Committee leader Ken Martin.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bigwig
Charlotte Observer, 15 Dec. 2025
Red Army officer Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang) is released from a Siberian prison — where he’s being held for committing innumerable needless wartime atrocities — by a KBG bigwig (Richard Brake) to ensure Aatami never sees Finnish soil again.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Elsewhere on the black and gold carpet outside the Ray Dolby Ballroom on Sunday night, Hollywood bigwigs such as Sydney Sweeney, Kate Hudson and Zoey Deutch brought golden age glamour with sophisticated updos and curly bobs.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 17 Nov. 2025
Other Party bigwigs expressed disappointment, too, from the progressives Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to the milquetoast Democratic National Committee leader Ken Martin.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bigwig
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bigwig
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
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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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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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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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Wexner was Epstein's most significant client, and Epstein reportedly drew on his association with the retail magnate behind Victoria's Secret to attract young women and girls.—
Emma Hinchliffe,
Fortune,
18 Feb. 2026
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The 72-year-old Packard, an oceanographer, is the daughter of technology magnate David Packard, the aquarium’s founding benefactor.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The fact that Yasmin’s father was a publishing tycoon and died on a boat called the Lady Yasmin, all of these things are [part of it].—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
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Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is also well-known for his investments and position across news outlets.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bigwig.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bigwig. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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