great

adj, intj, noun and 1 more — 19 senses

great

adj

US, UK /ˈɡɹeɪt/ · UK /ˈɡɹɛjt/

Etymology

From Middle English greet, grete (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, massive; tall; thick; coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“coarse, crude; big, large”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub; to stroke; to grind; to remove”). Cognates Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot, grot, grut, gråt, gurt (“big, great, large”), Saterland Frisian groot (“big, large”), West Frisian grut (“big, great, large”), Alemannic German groß, gruuss (“very large”), Central Franconian jruß (“big, great, large”), Cimbrian gròas, groaz (“big, great, large”), Dutch and German Low German groot (“big, great, large”), German gross, groß (“big, large”), Limburgish grut, gruët (“big, large; grand; tall; adult; pregnant”), Luxembourgish grouss (“big, great, large”), Mòcheno groas (“big, great, large”), Vilamovian grus, grūs (“big, great, large”), Yiddish גרויס (groys, “big, large”); also Latin grandis (“big, great, large”), Greek χρίω (chrío, “to anoint”), Albanian grind (“to brawl, fight”), Latvian grauds (“grain”), Lithuanian grūdas (“grain”), Czech hrouda, hruda (“clod”), Macedonian грутка (grutka, “clod, clump, lump”), Polish gruda (“clod, lump; frozen ground; mud fever, scratches”), Russian гру́да (grúda, “clod, heap, mass, pile”), Serbo-Croatian гру̏да, гру̏два, grȕda, grȕdva (“clod, lump; snowball”), Armenian կորկոտ (korkot, “groats of wheat or barley”), Sanskrit घर्षति (gharṣati, “to brush, polish, rub”). Related to grit. Doublet of gross. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as beat and heat.

13 senses
  1. 1Taking much space; large.
  2. 2Much, more than usual.
  3. 3Intensifying a word or expression, used in mild oaths.
  4. 4Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.
  5. 5Important, consequential.
  6. 6Involving more generations than the qualified word…
  7. 7Pregnant; large with young; full of.
  8. 8Intimate; familiar.
  9. 9Arising from or possessing idealism; admirable…
  10. 10Impressive or striking.
  11. 11Much in use; favoured.
  12. 12Of much talent or achievements.
  13. 13Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a…
1

Taking much space; large.

  • “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like // Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer.[…]”1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
  • ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared.[…]’1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
1 more example
  • Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:
2

Of an abstract noun Much, more than usual.

  • great worry
  • “We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
1 more example
  • The first half of this century has been referred to as the golden age of medicine. To me it seems more probable that we are on the threshold of a much greater age.1951 March, John W. Cline, “The Future of Medicine”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 165:
3

UK, Informal Intensifying a word or expression, used in mild oaths.

  • a dirty great smack in the face
  • Great Scott!
4

Informal Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.

  • Dinner was great.
  • He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights,[…], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
5

Important, consequential.

  • a great dilemma
  • a great decision
4 more examples
  • So the King made Daniel a great man […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 2:48:
  • The Dawn is over-caſt, the Morning low’rs, And heavily in Clouds brings on the Day, The great, th’ important Day; big with the Fate Of Cato and of Rome.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:
  • The methods for finding parameters that are commonly used in RBC models include using coefficients that come from microeconomic studies for parameters like the time discount factor, rental income over total income for the parameters of a Cobb-Douglas production function, and adjusting parameters so that stationary state value values approach those of the great ratios such as consumption over income and capital over income.2008, George McCandless, The ABCs of RBCs, Harvard University Press, page 2:
  • Racism courses through Donald Trump’s blood and is one of the foundational principles of his presidency. Which is why, when faced with one of the greatest uprisings against police brutality this nation has seen, a movement led by black people around the country and joined by all other people of color and white people as well, his only policy solution is to start a race war.2020 June 2, David S. Cohen, “Donald Trump Is Trying to Start a Race War”, in Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 03 Jun 2020:
6

Involving more generations than the qualified word implies — as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s).

Qualifying nouns of family relationship

  • great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-great-grandfather
7

Obsolete, Postpositional, Followed by 'with' Pregnant; large with young; full of.

  • great with child
  • great with hope
1 more example
  • the ewes great with young1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 78:71:
8

Obsolete Intimate; familiar.

Except with 'friend' and similar words such as 'mate'; 'buddy'; except with 'friend' and similar words such as 'mate'; 'buddy'

  • those that are so great with him1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Followers and Friends”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
9

Arising from or possessing idealism; admirable; commanding; illustrious; eminent.

Applied to actions; thoughts and feelings; applied to actions; thoughts and feelings

  • a great deed
  • a great nature
1 more example
  • a great history
10

Impressive or striking.

  • a great show of wealth
11

Much in use; favoured.

  • Poetry was a great convention of the Romantic era.
12

Of much talent or achievements.

Applied to persons

  • a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher, writer, etc.
13

Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale; active or enthusiastic.

  • What a great buffoon!
  • He’s not a great one for reading.
1 more example
  • a great walker
Synonyms
grand, super-, supra-, hyper-, ultra-, uber-, macro-, arch-, over-, mega-, giga-, -zilla, gr8, grt
Antonyms
tiny, mediocre, ordinary
Derived terms
343 termsa great deal, a great many, behind every great man is a great woman, behind every great man there stands a woman, child-great, death is the great leveller, double great primer, engreaten, go great guns, go to great lengths, great albatross, great antshrike, great ape, great artery, Great Assize, great auk, great-aunt, great aunt, greataxe, great balls of fire, great bass, great bass recorder, great beyond, great bifurcation, great big, great bit bucket in the sky, great bittern, great black-backed gull, great black hawk, great blue heron, great blue lobelia, greatbow, great brown kingfisher, great bulrush, great bustard, great cabin, great Caesar's ghost, great cardiac vein, great casino, great cassino, great cat, great cerebral vein, great chain of being, great chamber, great circle, great circle arc, great-circle arc, great circle route, greatcoat, great comet, great conjunction, great cormorant, great crest, great crested grebe, great crested newt, great cry and little wool, great cubicuboctahedron, Great Dane, great deal, great divide, great dodecahedron, Great Dying, great eggfly, great egret, greaten, Great Feasts, great fee, Great Filter, great go, great-go, great goosegrass, great-grand, great-grandaunt, great-grandchild, great grandchild, great granddaughter, great-granddaughter, great grandfather, great-grandfather, great-grandfather-in-law, great grandkid, great-grandkid, great-grandma, great grandmaster, great grandmother, great-grandmother, great grand multipara, great grand multiparity, great grand multiparous, great-grandnephew, great-grandniece, great-grandpa, great-grandparent, great grandparent, great-grandparenthood, great grandson, great-grandson, great-granduncle, great-great-grandchild, great great grandchild, great great granddaughter, great-great-granddaughter, great great grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-grandma, great-great-grandmother, great great grandmother, great great grandparent, great-great-grandparent, great-great-grandson, great great grandson, great-great-great-grandfather, great great great grandfather, great great great grandmother, great-great-great-grandmother, great-great-nephew, great green macaw, great grey owl, great grey shrike, great gross, great gun, great guns, great hall, greathammer, great haste makes great waste, Greathead, greathearted, great-hearted, great-heartedness, great heaume, great heavens, great helm, great horned owl, great horsetail, Great Hours, great house, great hundred, great icosahedron, great icosihemidodecahedron, great imitator, greatish, great job, great knot, great laurel, Great Leap Forward, greatly, great man theory, great-martyr, great martyr, great martyress, great masquerader, great minds, great minds think alike, great morel, great mullein, great-nephew, greatness, great-niece, great northern bean, great northern diver, great northern loon, great northern prawn, great northern shrike, great oaks from little acorns grow, great octave, great office of state, great one, great outdoors, great power, great-pox, great pox, great primer, great prior, great ragweed, great ramshorn, great reed warbler, great replacement, Great Replacement, great replacement theory, great reset, great rhododendron, great rhombicuboctahedron, Great Rift Valley, great room, greatroom, great saphenous vein, great sapphirewing, great Satan, great Scott, great seahorse, great seal, great seal script, great skua, great slaty woodpecker, great snipe, greatsome, great spotted kiwi, great spotted woodpecker, great spur wheel, great stone-curlew, greatsword, great-tailed grackle, Great Terror, great thick-knee, great thrush, great tinamou, great-tit, great tit, great toe, great uncle, great-uncle, great unhosed, great unwashed, great vessel, Great Vowel Shift, great wall, Great War, great whale, great wheel, great white, great white egret, great white heron, great white hope, great white rat, great white shark, great willowherb, grunkle, little strokes fell great oaks, no great scratch, no great shakes, nongreat, overgreat, pearl of great price, piss on from a great height, small rain lays great dust, success is a great deodorant, take great pains, the great and the good, time is a great healer, time is a great healer of all wounds, time is the great healer, to a great extent, two-line great primer, ungreat, winning is a great deodorant, with great difficulty, Great Alne, Great Altcar, Great Amwell, Great and Little Hampden, Great and Little Leighs, Great Australian Bight, Great Aycliffe, Great Ayton, Great Bardfield, Great Barford, Great Barr, Great Barrier Island, Great Barrier Reef, Great Barrington, Great Barton, Great Bavington, Great Bedwyn, Great Belt, Great Bend, Great Bentley, Great Bernera, Great Bookham, Great Bourton, Great Bowden, Great Bridge, Great Bridgeford, Great Britain, Great Broughton, Great Budworth, Great Chart, Great Chesterford, Great Cheverell, Great Comberton, Great Coxwell, Great Cumbrae, Great Dalby, Great Dawley, Great Driffield, Great Dunmow, Great Ellingham, Great Elm, Great Falls, Great Glen, Great Gonerby, Great Hampden, Great Harrowden, Great Harwood, Great Haywood, Great Heck, Great Holland, Great Horton, Great Horwood, Great Houghton, Great Island, Great Kimble, Great Lakes, Great Longstone, Great Mackerel Beach, Great Malvern, Great Marlow, Great Missenden, Great Munden, Great Musgrave, Great Ness, Great North Road, Great Orme, Great Ouse, Great Oxendon, Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Great Paxton, Great Ponton, Great Rollright, Great Salkeld, Great Salt Lake, Great Sankey, Great Scotland Yard, Great Shefford, Great Shelford, Great Slave Lake, Great Snoring, Great Somerford, Great Southern, Great Stour, Great Sutton, Great Tew, Great Tey, Great Torrington, Great Urswick, Great Wakering, Great Wall of China, Great Waltham, Great Welnetham, Great Whelnetham, Great Witchingham, Great Wolford, Great Yarmouth, Great Yeldham

great

intj
Etymology

From Middle English greet, grete (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, massive; tall; thick; coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“coarse, crude; big, large”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub; to stroke; to grind; to remove”). Cognates Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot, grot, grut, gråt, gurt (“big, great, large”), Saterland Frisian groot (“big, large”), West Frisian grut (“big, great, large”), Alemannic German groß, gruuss (“very large”), Central Franconian jruß (“big, great, large”), Cimbrian gròas, groaz (“big, great, large”), Dutch and German Low German groot (“big, great, large”), German gross, groß (“big, large”), Limburgish grut, gruët (“big, large; grand; tall; adult; pregnant”), Luxembourgish grouss (“big, great, large”), Mòcheno groas (“big, great, large”), Vilamovian grus, grūs (“big, great, large”), Yiddish גרויס (groys, “big, large”); also Latin grandis (“big, great, large”), Greek χρίω (chrío, “to anoint”), Albanian grind (“to brawl, fight”), Latvian grauds (“grain”), Lithuanian grūdas (“grain”), Czech hrouda, hruda (“clod”), Macedonian грутка (grutka, “clod, clump, lump”), Polish gruda (“clod, lump; frozen ground; mud fever, scratches”), Russian гру́да (grúda, “clod, heap, mass, pile”), Serbo-Croatian гру̏да, гру̏два, grȕda, grȕdva (“clod, lump; snowball”), Armenian կորկոտ (korkot, “groats of wheat or barley”), Sanskrit घर्षति (gharṣati, “to brush, polish, rub”). Related to grit. Doublet of gross. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as beat and heat.

1

Expression of gladness and content about something.

  • Great! Thanks for the wonderful work.
  • —I am in my new apartment! —Great!2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
2

A sarcastic inversion thereof.

  • Oh, great! I just dumped all 500 sheets of the manuscript all over and now I have to put them back in order.

great

noun
Etymology

From Middle English greet, grete (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, massive; tall; thick; coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“coarse, crude; big, large”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub; to stroke; to grind; to remove”). Cognates Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot, grot, grut, gråt, gurt (“big, great, large”), Saterland Frisian groot (“big, large”), West Frisian grut (“big, great, large”), Alemannic German groß, gruuss (“very large”), Central Franconian jruß (“big, great, large”), Cimbrian gròas, groaz (“big, great, large”), Dutch and German Low German groot (“big, great, large”), German gross, groß (“big, large”), Limburgish grut, gruët (“big, large; grand; tall; adult; pregnant”), Luxembourgish grouss (“big, great, large”), Mòcheno groas (“big, great, large”), Vilamovian grus, grūs (“big, great, large”), Yiddish גרויס (groys, “big, large”); also Latin grandis (“big, great, large”), Greek χρίω (chrío, “to anoint”), Albanian grind (“to brawl, fight”), Latvian grauds (“grain”), Lithuanian grūdas (“grain”), Czech hrouda, hruda (“clod”), Macedonian грутка (grutka, “clod, clump, lump”), Polish gruda (“clod, lump; frozen ground; mud fever, scratches”), Russian гру́да (grúda, “clod, heap, mass, pile”), Serbo-Croatian гру̏да, гру̏два, grȕda, grȕdva (“clod, lump; snowball”), Armenian կորկոտ (korkot, “groats of wheat or barley”), Sanskrit घर्षति (gharṣati, “to brush, polish, rub”). Related to grit. Doublet of gross. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as beat and heat.

1

A person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim.

  • Newton and Einstein are two of the greats of the history of science.
  • Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way. That, in a nutshell, perhaps sums up the difference between Messi and the players on the next rung below – the ones who can be described as great footballers without necessarily being football greats.2019 May 1, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:
2

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music The main division in a pipe organ, usually the loudest division.

3

In combinations such as "two-greats" An instance of the word "great" signifying an additional generation in phrases expressing family relationships.

"three-greats" etc.

  • My three-greats grandmother.
Antonyms
mediocre

great

adv
Etymology

From Middle English greet, grete (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, massive; tall; thick; coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“coarse, crude; big, large”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub; to stroke; to grind; to remove”). Cognates Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot, grot, grut, gråt, gurt (“big, great, large”), Saterland Frisian groot (“big, large”), West Frisian grut (“big, great, large”), Alemannic German groß, gruuss (“very large”), Central Franconian jruß (“big, great, large”), Cimbrian gròas, groaz (“big, great, large”), Dutch and German Low German groot (“big, great, large”), German gross, groß (“big, large”), Limburgish grut, gruët (“big, large; grand; tall; adult; pregnant”), Luxembourgish grouss (“big, great, large”), Mòcheno groas (“big, great, large”), Vilamovian grus, grūs (“big, great, large”), Yiddish גרויס (groys, “big, large”); also Latin grandis (“big, great, large”), Greek χρίω (chrío, “to anoint”), Albanian grind (“to brawl, fight”), Latvian grauds (“grain”), Lithuanian grūdas (“grain”), Czech hrouda, hruda (“clod”), Macedonian грутка (grutka, “clod, clump, lump”), Polish gruda (“clod, lump; frozen ground; mud fever, scratches”), Russian гру́да (grúda, “clod, heap, mass, pile”), Serbo-Croatian гру̏да, гру̏два, grȕda, grȕdva (“clod, lump; snowball”), Armenian կորկոտ (korkot, “groats of wheat or barley”), Sanskrit घर्षति (gharṣati, “to brush, polish, rub”). Related to grit. Doublet of gross. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as beat and heat.

1

Informal Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).

  • Those mechanical colored pencils work great because they don’t have to be sharpened.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.