great
Usage
What are other ways to say great?
In reference to the size and extent of concrete objects, great is highly formal and even poetic, suggesting also that the object is notable or imposing, large is only somewhat formal, and big is the most general and most colloquial word: a great oak; a large tree; a big tree; great plains; a large field; a big field. 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.
See Examples For:
But satellite imagery just captures points in time and isn’t great for tracking the chokepoint itself, as it misses the bulk of the movements at night, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
His coach, Rich Corso, told me how great he’d become.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
"There are times I am still in a great deal of pain, but the difference now is I understand it, the source of it and I control it - it doesn't control me," McCoubrey said.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
“The ranchers are great; they’re my people. I love the ranchers,” he told reporters.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Just to cross the border was to feel the great weight that hung over that land.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
With this latest triumph, Hudson-Smith joined British greats Mo Farah and Roger Black on five golds, while matching Dina Asher-Smith as the most decorated British athlete in the history of the championships.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Now they just added to that, with maybe the best pitcher in the game, certainly one of the greats in this era.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
"That's why you have some of the greats in women's sports. If Title IX and women's sports weren't protected, then you wouldn't hear about any type of women in sport."
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Yet the lasting images from both tournaments are of all-time greats such as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi dancing on the field.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Then, in the summer of 1954, Bobby had an opportunity to see in action some of the greats he’d been reading about.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
For stablecoins, Clarity Act passage “would reduce friction via greater regulatory certainty,” TD Cowen analyst Bryan Bergin wrote in a recent note, though he noted that adoption was already advancing without that law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Since turning 70, Irving has had a clearer recognition “that there was less time ahead than there was behind and a greater sense of urgency — with both happiness and sadness — associated with that.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
In academia, there is no greater sin than passing off another’s work as one’s own.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Animals treated with R inulinivorans, meanwhile, had a greater proportion of larger fibers than mice given the other Roseburia species or no Roseburia.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
And if at the beginning of the summer someone had said I’d be friends with my nemesis, I’d have said there was a greater chance that Earth would be swallowed by a black hole.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
“Who is the greatest sportswriter ever?” one of the legendary scribes asked him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Mice with the greatest brain hyperactivity when they were young later developed the most severe memory problems.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
Fortunately, I’m healthy enough to travel — one of my greatest joys in this chapter of life.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
Last Sunday's nine-wicket defeat for the world's top-ranked side in Darwin was widely seen as one of Test cricket's greatest upsets.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
“The single greatest line I ever wrote as an analyst,” says Eisman, “was after Lomas said they were hedged.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Vocabulary lists containing great
Spelling Practice, Unit 8
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Spelling Practice, Unit 8
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
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