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:
We leave a great big cauldron of candy outside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
“I wanted to get better at being onstage and having a stage presence. And, honestly, it was really fun — I got really into movement, and I had a great group of friends.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Malaysia, true to form, brought a great race, chaos and weather.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Mencken, the legendary journalist, said: “No one in this world…has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Through the trees, he glimpsed a great dark shadow in the wreck of the shelter.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Where he stands in that list of greats will be shaped by eras and opinions, according to former internationals Paul Robinson and Murphy.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
But concern is the prevailing mood among the culinary greats gathered in Mexico.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
“The greats aren’t perfect. But they do learn from their mistakes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
A poetic circle: Wynton followed the greats, and posthumously, they followed him back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
“I hear it happens to all the greats now and again.”
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
They plan to use the technique on additional particle collision data to search for more examples and study them in greater detail.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
One way to have greater influence over AI safety, the official said, was to build its own technology.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
The trailing two-month divergence in March 2000, the month in which that bubble burst, was greater than 40 percentage points — more than four times the current divergence.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Will it be the death of us or a greater boon than the internet?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
But Nine didn’t understand the greater issue at hand: Gingersnipes being stuck in Deadwood.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
That’s when Harvard, the school that helped give the world baking soda and the forward pass, cooked up its greatest piece of ingenuity yet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
"Governing Quebec is the greatest honour I have ever had," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Obviously, he’s just being modest, but this is one of the greatest executives you will ever see in the sport,” Langill said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
One young fan mused, “Is Nixon pulling off the greatest posthumous political comeback in history?”
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
“Thank you, Jakob. That is the greatest compliment.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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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