great
adjective · noun · adverb
Simple meaning
Of much talent or achievements.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
graytIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɹeɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
applied to persons
Of much talent or achievements.
Important, consequential.
of an abstract noun
Much, more than usual.
qualifying nouns of family relationship
Involving more generations than the qualified word implies — as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s). [see Derived terms]
Taking much space; large.
Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale; active or enthusiastic.
noun
in combinations such as "two-greats""three-greats" etc.
An instance of the word "great" signifying an additional generation in phrases expressing family relationships.
A person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim.
adverb
informal
Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.
Used this way, great is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It lands hard, so it overstates anything mild. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Very strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Warm and admiring
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Usage note
Great is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use great
- “He is one of the greats of American music.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Greater in size or importance or degree.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The property possessed by something or someone of outstanding importance or eminence.
To an extraordinary extent or degree.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Large flightless auk of rocky islands off northern Atlantic coasts.
A massive grouping of galaxies in the direction of Centaurus and Hydra whose gravitational attraction is believed to cause deviations in the paths of other galaxies.
Large shaggy-haired toothless anteater with long tongue and powerful claws.
Large (up to 6 ft) greyish-brown barracuda highly regarded as a food and sport fish.
General name given to all desert areas in Australia.
The largest coral reef in the world.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: (in combinations such as "two-greats"
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.