great

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Thesaurus

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adjective

/ɡreɪt/

adjective	great
comparative	greater
superlative	greatest

1
bigger or more than is usual
She had great difficulty in guessing where I was from.
They could be in great danger.
He was in a great hurry.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome our next guest.
This is a great opportunity to raise a lot of money.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
1. a.
  [only before noun] spoken used for emphasizing the physical size of something or someone
  They dug this whacking great hole.
  great big:
  a great big piece of chocolate
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
2. b.
  used for emphasizing a large number of people or things
  Shakespeare wrote a great many plays.
  The great majority disagree.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
3. c.
  mainly literary very large and impressive
  the great river
  a great feast
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
4. d.
  used in the names of buildings, rooms, or features of geography that are very large and impressive
  the castle’s great hall
  the Great Barrier Reef
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
5. e.
  used in the names of birds or animals that are larger than related birds or animals
  the great white shark
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
See also deal
2
important or powerful
a great military power
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
1. a.
  used about an event or situation that affects a lot of people or a large area
  the greatest environmental disaster in decades
  a great healthcare crisis
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
2. b.
  used in the names of important events in history
  the Great Depression of the 1930s
  the Great Fire of London of 1666
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
3. c.
  used about someone famous or important who is admired by a lot of people, or about their work
  one of the greatest writers of the modern age
  a great work of art
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
4. d.
  informal used for emphasizing the most important feature of something
  The really great thing about this computer is its speed.
  The great advantage is that this place is so near to town.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
3
informal enthusiastic about something or someone
I’m your greatest admirer.
a great football fan
a great talker/walker/reader etc:
She’s a great reader of biographies.
be a great one for (=be enthusiastic about):
I’ve never been a great one for spiders and snakes.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
4
informal able to do something very well
He’s a great guitarist.
great at:
She’s great at maths.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
1. a.
  able to deal with certain people very well
  Isn’t she great with the children?
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
5
mainly spoken used for expressing pleasure or agreement
It’s great to be here.
I think it’s great he’s got a girlfriend.
Great! I’ll pick you up at eight, then.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
6
informal very good, enjoyable, or attractive
This cake tastes great.
We had a great day.
You looked great in that outfit.
This is a great place for families.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
1. a.
  used for saying that something that you expected to be good, enjoyable etc is not
  That’s just great! Now I’ll have do it all over again.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great
2. b.
  used about someone who is nice and a pleasure to be with
  He’s a great guy.
  a great friend
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great

phrase

great with child
literary
an old phrase meaning ‘pregnant’
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of great

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

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