- great
- I UK [ɡreɪt] / US
adjective
Word forms "great":
adjective great comparative greater superlative greatest
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1) bigger or more than is usualShe 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.
a) [only before noun] spoken used for emphasizing the physical size of something or someonegreat big:They dug this whacking great hole.
a great big piece of chocolate
b) used for emphasizing a large number of people or thingsShakespeare wrote a great many plays.
The great majority disagree.
c) mainly literary very large and impressivethe great river
a great feast
d) used in the names of buildings, rooms, or features of geography that are very large and impressivethe castle's great hall
the Great Barrier Reef
e) used in the names of birds or animals that are larger than related birds or animalsthe great white shark
••See:deal II2) important or powerfula great military power
a) used about an event or situation that affects a lot of people or a large areathe greatest environmental disaster in decades
a great healthcare crisis
b) used in the names of important events in historythe Great Depression of the 1930s
the Great Fire of London of 1666
c) used about someone famous or important who is admired by a lot of people, or about their workone of the greatest writers of the modern age
a great work of art
d) informal used for emphasizing the most important feature of somethingThe really great thing about this computer is its speed.
The great advantage is that this place is so near to town.
3) informal enthusiastic about something or someoneI'm your greatest admirer.
a great talker/walker/reader etc:a great football fan
be a great one for (= be enthusiastic about):She's a great reader of biographies.
I've never been a great one for spiders and snakes.
4)a) informal able to do something very wellgreat at:He's a great guitarist.
She's great at maths.
b) able to deal with certain people very wellIsn't she great with the children?
5) mainly spoken used for expressing pleasure or agreementIt's great to be here.
I think it's great he's got a girlfriend.
Great! I'll pick you up at eight, then.
6) informal very good, enjoyable, or attractiveThis cake tastes great.
We had a great day.
You looked great in that outfit.
This is a great place for families.
a) used for saying that something that you expected to be good, enjoyable etc is notThat's just great! Now I'll have do it all over again.
b) used about someone who is nice and a pleasure to be withHe's a great guy.
a great friend
•See:
II UK [ɡreɪt] / US adverb
Word forms "great":
comparative greater superlative greatest informalvery wellYou're doing great.
I don't think we played great.
Things are really going great.
III UK [ɡreɪt] / US noun [countable]
Word forms "great":
singular great plural greats1)a) [usually plural] someone who is admired by a lot of people, especially someone famousFred Perry is one of the all-time greats of tennis.
b) something that is well known and admired by a lot of peoplean album of jazz greats
2) the Great used after the name of an important person in history for showing that they had a lot of power or respectCatherine the Great
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English dictionary. 2014.
