Definition of "great"

great

/ˈɡɹeɪt/

adjective
comparative greater, superlative greatest
1. Having much size; large.
  Quotations
  “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like // Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”
  1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎
  ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’
  1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess‎
  Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.
  2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18
  1. (informal) Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.
    Quotations
    He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
    1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
  2. (informal, Britain) Intensifying a word or expression, used in mild oaths.
2. Important, especially much so.
3. (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).
4. (obsolete, postpositive, followed by 'with') Pregnant; large with young; full of.
  Quotations
  the ewes great with young
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Psalms 73:71
5. (obsolete, except with 'friend' and similar words such as 'mate','buddy') Intimate; familiar.
  Quotations
  those that are so great with him
  1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Followers and Friends”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret
6. Extreme or more than usual.
7. Of significant importance or consequence; important.
  Quotations
  “We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”
  1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
  The first half of this century has been referred to as the golden age of medicine. To me it seems more probable that we are on the threshold of a much greater age.
  1951 March, John W. Cline, “The Future of Medicine”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 165
8. (applied to actions, thoughts and feelings) Arising from or possessing idealism; admirable; superior; commanding; heroic; illustrious; eminent.
9. Impressive or striking.
10. Much in use; favoured.
11. (applied to persons) Endowed with extraordinary powers; of exceptional talents or achievements; uncommonly gifted; able to accomplish vast results; remarkable; strong; powerful; mighty; noble.
12. Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale; active or enthusiastic.
13. (often followed by 'at') Skilful or adroit.
interjection
1. Expression of gladness and content about something.
  Quotations
  I am in my new apartment! Great! Audio (US)(file)
  2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
2. sarcastic inversion thereof.
noun
plural greats
1. A person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim.
  Quotations
  Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way. That, in a nutshell, perhaps sums up the difference between Messi and the players on the next rung below – the ones who can be described as great footballers without necessarily being football greats.
  2019 May 1, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎
2. (music) The main division in a pipe organ, usually the loudest division.
3. (in combinations such as "two-greats", "three-greats" etc.) An instance of the word "great" signifying an additional generation in phrases expressing family relationships.
adverb
not comparable
1. (informal) Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).