| English Dictionary |
GREAT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does great mean?
• GREAT (noun)
The noun GREAT has 1 sense:
1. a person who has achieved distinction and honor in some field
Familiarity information: GREAT used as a noun is very rare.
• GREAT (adjective)
The adjective GREAT has 6 senses:
1. relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
2. of major significance or importance
3. remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree or magnitude or effect
4. very good
5. uppercase
6. in an advanced stage of pregnancy
Familiarity information: GREAT used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person who has achieved distinction and honor in some field
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Context example:
he is one of the greats of American music
Hypernyms ("great" is a kind of...):
achiever; succeeder; success; winner (a person with a record of successes)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: greatest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
Context example:
a great delay
Similar:
big; large (above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent)
Derivation:
greatness (unusual largeness in size or extent or number)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of major significance or importance
Synonyms:
great; outstanding
Context example:
Einstein was one of the outstanding figures of the 20th centurey
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Derivation:
greatness (the property possessed by something or someone of outstanding importance or eminence)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree or magnitude or effect
Context example:
had a great stake in the outcome
Similar:
extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)
Derivation:
greatness (unusual largeness in size or extent or number)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Very good
Synonyms:
bang-up; bully; corking; cracking; dandy; great; groovy; keen; neat; nifty; not bad; old; peachy; slap-up; smashing; swell
Context example:
we had a grand old time
Similar:
good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Uppercase
Synonyms:
Context example:
many medieval manuscripts are in majuscule script
Similar:
uppercase (relating to capital letters which were kept in the top half of a compositor's type case)
Sense 6
Meaning:
In an advanced stage of pregnancy
Synonyms:
big; enceinte; expectant; gravid; great; heavy; large; with child
Context example:
was great with child
Similar:
pregnant (carrying developing offspring within the body or being about to produce new life)
Context examples
They had just found a great treasure-trove.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And yet this John Openshaw seems to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Sholtos.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
‘I was sure that you would trust me,’ she cried, with a great sigh of relief.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Also is tobacco of value. It is of very great value. The Indian gives one large salmon for one leaf of tobacco, and he chews the tobacco for a long time.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The harder and smarter you worked last year, the greater your profits will be now.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
Over against this temple, on the other side of the great highway, at twenty feet distance, there was a turret at least five feet high.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
He went downstairs and out into the street, breathing great breaths of air.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Mr. Copperfield was very kind to me, and took a great deal of notice of me, and paid me a good deal of attention, and at last proposed to me.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The elevation of frames of poles caught his eye; yet this in itself was not so remarkable, being done by the same creatures that flung sticks and stones to great distances.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
So they soon forgot their pride and interchanged kindnesses without stopping to think which was the greater.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Dog has to have its stomach full" (Azerbaijani proverb)
"The thief stole from the thief, God looked on and got astonished." (Armenian proverb)
"Many hands make light work." (Dutch proverb)