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Definitions

big

[big] / bɪg /






Usage

What are other ways to say big? In reference to the size and extent of concrete objects, big is the most general and most colloquial word, large is somewhat more formal, and great is highly formal and even poetic, suggesting also that the object is notable or imposing: a big tree; a large tree; a great oak; a big field; a large field; great plains. When the reference is to degree or a quality, great is the usual word: great beauty; great mistake; great surprise; although big sometimes alternates with it in colloquial style: a big mistake; a big surprise; large is usually not used in reference to degree, but may be used in a quantitative reference: a large number (great number).

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Reports of the freezer tampering spanned the continent from Portugal to Estonia, hitting smaller independent retailers as well as big chains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

The big flashing sign has come in South Carolina.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026

They added another bingo session, handed out leftover souvenirs and showed movies on a big screen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

Then comes qualification for Euro 2028, coined "the big job" by Pocognoli.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

He rushed toward the windmills, challenging and insulting the big white things all the while.

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios

CEO Debra Maxwell says the company's usual graduate intake is on hold this year, but she plans to resume it next year with a bigger focus on AI.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

Companies of all sizes have been on the hunt to acquire more refineries to build bigger fuel-making businesses, given the almost intractable constraints in global capacity, other people familiar with the matter said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

Now, however, one of the bigger questions facing investors is whether all the borrowings for the data-center and infrastructure buildout are going to get paid back adequately, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

And if you zoom out just a little bit, you see this same disturbing inequality through a much bigger lens—and people are finally getting mad about it.

From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026

“This is just for the employees. My boss’s office is near the front entrance; it’s bigger and doesn’t look like the perfect space to interrogate someone,” he quips.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

The cost of living is the biggest issue for voters, according to the RNZ-Reid Research Poll run by New Zealand's public broadcaster.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

“A lot of our members feel the neglect … probably the biggest thing is sanitation fears, especially public health crises.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

United, though, are hardly the first side to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on Europe's biggest stage.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

The biggest AI players have been willing to pay more to tap the debt markets.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

At the end of the row is the biggest case of them all, made of wire instead of glass.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

I've bigged myself up about doing an Ironman, but now I'm starting to regret that!

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025

"We bigged him up before kick off for his technical abilities, and he has just shown them again here. This guy is an outstanding player."

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2023

“This agreement has been bigged up as something that will be a solution to the world’s food shortage, and it is just not,” said Tracey Allen, an agricultural commodities strategist at JPMorgan Chase.

From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2022

This album has been bigged up by professional critics over the age of 50, but they are all closet fans.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 24, 2020

He has bigged a bower beside the thorn,   He has fenced it up wi' stane, And there within the Elmond wood,   They twa has dwelt their lane.

From Ballad Book by Katherine Lee Bates

Newey effectively worked only three days a week, Horner would say, bigging up the roles of Wache and the technical leadership team around him, especially head of aerodynamics Enrico Balbo.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025

The coach of Ireland bigging up an Ireland wing?

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025

Another massive performance and others aside from Sinfield might be bigging him up.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 19, 2023

GP I really don’t want it to sound like I’m bigging myself up.

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021

Mr. Oldbuck's "ecstatic description" of the Roman camp with its praetorium was spoilt by Edie Ochiltree's disastrous interruption "Praetorian here, praetorian there, I mind the bigging o't."

From The Romance of Names by Ernest Weekley


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