great

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled gurt

US /ˈɡreɪt/ UK /ˈɡɹeɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #164

Meanings

1

adj
Very good, excellent, or wonderful.

Dinner was great.
2

adj
Very large in size, amount, or degree.

A great crowd gathered in the square.
3

adj
Important and famous; of major significance.

Shakespeare is a great writer.
4

noun
A person who is very famous and admired in their field.

She is one of the greats of American music.

Word forms

The same word in different grammatical forms.

Adjective

Base form: great
The change made a great difference.
Comparative: greater
The next change made a greater difference.
Superlative: greatest
This change made the greatest difference.

Use the comparative to compare two things or actions. Use the superlative for the highest or lowest degree in a group.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very good, excellent, or... wonderful excellent

2 adj · very large in size, amount,... large

3 adj · important and famous; of... outstanding

More arch-giga-grandgrthyper-macro-mega-over-super-supra-uber-ultra-

Opposites

mediocre ordinary tiny

Word family

Derived forms child-greatengreatengreat-auntgreat-gogreat-grandgreat-grandauntgreat-grandchildgreat-granddaughtergreat-grandfathergreat-grandfather-in-lawgreat-grandkidgreat-grandma

Appears in

Phrases (13)

See all

great beauty
an exceptional or striking degree of beauty

Adjective + noun
great favor
a very helpful or generous act

Adjective + noun
great fun
something very enjoyable

Adjective + noun
great honor
a distinction of high significance or importance

Adjective + noun
great pleasure
a lot of pleasure; strong enjoyment

Adjective + noun
great care
a high degree of attention and caution

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (19)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, thick, coarse, massive”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub, grind, remove”). Cognates Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot, grot, grut, gurt (“big, great, large”), Saterland Frisian groot (“big, large”), West Frisian grut (“big, great, large”), Alemannic German groß, gruuss (“very large”), Central Franconian jruß (“big, great, large”), Cimbri…

*gʰer- Proto-Indo-European greet Middle English grēat Old English *graut Proto-West Germanic *grautaz Proto-Germanic *gʰrewd- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# great

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡreɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡɹeɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 164

## Meanings
1. Very good, excellent, or wonderful.
2. Very large in size, amount, or degree.
3. Important and famous; of major significance.
4. A person who is very famous and admired in their field.

## Examples
- Dinner was great.
- A great crowd gathered in the square.
- Shakespeare is a great writer.
- She is one of the greats of American music.

## Synonyms
- arch-
- giga-
- grand
- grt
- hyper-
- macro-
- mega-
- over-
- super-
- supra-
- uber-
- ultra-

## Antonyms
- mediocre
- ordinary
- tiny

## Derived Forms
- child-great
- engreaten
- great-aunt
- great-go
- great-grand
- great-grandaunt
- great-grandchild
- great-granddaughter
- great-grandfather
- great-grandfather-in-law
- great-grandkid
- great-grandma

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *gʰer-
- Root: greet
- Root: grēat
- Root: *graut
- Root: *grautaz
- Root: *gʰrewd-

## Etymology
From Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, thick, coarse, massive”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub, grind, remove”). Cognates Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot, grot, grut, gurt (“big, great, large”), Saterland Frisian groot (“big, large”), West Frisian grut (“big, great, large”), Alemannic German groß, gruuss (“very large”), Central Franconian jruß (“big, great, large”), Cimbri…

## AI Etymology
Great comes from Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, thick, coarse, massive”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub, grind, remove”). In current use, the main senses are “Very good, excellent, or wonderful” and “Very large in size, amount, or degree”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown