Meaning & use
the big wig
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
an important or powerful person, especially in a business or organization
Grammar: Often used with 'the' to refer to a specific important person, or in the plural 'bigwigs'.
Patterns
- a bigwig
- the bigwigs
- corporate bigwig
The big wig from headquarters is visiting our office today.
All the bigwigs were invited to the annual dinner.
He acts like a big wig, but he's just a junior manager.
Word forms
| plural | big wigs |
|---|
Common combinations
- corporate bigwig
- A corporate bigwig spoke at the conference.
- political bigwig
- Political bigwigs gathered for the summit.
- local bigwig
- The local bigwig cut the ribbon at the ceremony.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: the big wig or big wig?
the big wig vs big wig
The standard spelling is 'bigwig' (one word). 'Big wig' as two words is less common and may be considered a misspelling.
Practice
The company president and other ______ attended the meeting.
Choose one answer.
The plural of 'bigwig' is 'bigwigs' (one word). 'Big wigs' is a less common variant. 'Big wig' and 'bigwig' are singular, but the sentence needs a plural to match 'other'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “the big wig”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.