Great Definition

grāt
greater, greatest, greats
adjective
greater, greatest
Of much more than ordinary size, extent, volume, etc.
Webster's New World
Of a larger size than other, similar forms.
The great anteater.
American Heritage
Much higher in some quality or degree; much above the ordinary or average.
Webster's New World
Large in quantity or number.
A great throng awaited us.
American Heritage
Extensive in time or distance.
A great delay; a great way off.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
noun
greats
A great or distinguished person.
Webster's New World
A division of most pipe organs, usually containing the most powerful ranks of pipes.
American Heritage
A similar division of other organs.
American Heritage
(typographically plural, grammatically singular proper noun) A course of academic study devoted to the works of such persons and also known as Literae Humaniores; the "Greats" name has official status with respect to Oxford University's program and is widely used as a colloquialism in reference to similar programs elsewhere.
Spencer read Greats at Oxford, taking a starred first.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
adverb
Very well.
Webster's New World
Used as an intensive with certain adjectives.
A great big kiss.
American Heritage
affix
Older (or younger) by one generation.
Great-aunt, great-great-grandson.
Webster's New World
interjection

Expression of gladness and content about something.

Great! Thanks for the wonderful work.
Wiktionary

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.
Wiktionary
prefix
With familial designations, used to denote a removal of one generation.
Great-uncle (an uncle of one's mother or father)
Great-grandfather (the father of one's grandfather)
Great-great-grandfather (a grandfather of one's grandfather)
Great-great-great-grandfather, etc.
(informal) Fourth-great-uncle, etc. (same as great-great-great-great-uncle.
(informal) Fourth-great-grandfather, etc. (same as great-great-great-great-grandfather.
Wiktionary
idiom
great on
  • enthusiastic about
Webster's New World
the great
  • those who are great
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Great

Noun

Singular:
great
Plural:
greats

Adjective

Base Form:
great
Comparative:
greater
Superlative:
greatest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Great

  • great on
  • the great

Origin of Great

  • From Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, thick, coarse, stour, massive”), from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrewə- (“to fell, put down, fall in”). Cognate with Scots great (“coarse in grain or texture, thick, great”), West Frisian grut (“large, great”), Dutch groot (“large, stour”), German groß (“large”), Old English grēot (“earth, sand, grit”), Latin grandis (“great,big”), Albanian ngre (“I lift, heave, stand, elevate”). More at grit.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English grete from Old English grēat thick, coarse

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Great Sentence Examples

  • You're doing a great job.

  • It's great and I love it.

  • But you went to great lengths to help her.

  • There was a great famine in Rome.

  • The Watcher's eyes went around his study, as if this was his first visit in a great while.

More Sentences

Related Articles

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to great using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

GGRGRE

Words Ending With

TATEAT

Unscrambles

great

Words Starting With G and Ending With T

Starts With G & Ends With TStarts With GR & Ends With TStarts With G & Ends With AT

Word Length

5 Letter Words5 Letter Words Starting With G5 Letter Words Ending With T