Word.ws English Dictionary

be the bigger man

be the bigger man verb: to walk away from a conflict to prevent it from escalating.

Verb

be the bigger man (irregular; see conjugation of "be")

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To walk away from a conflict to prevent it from escalating.
    • Even if it's in retaliation for a roommate disrespecting your room, be the bigger Man and leave his room alone.2012, Joseph Greene, The ComMANdments; The Official Guide Book to Man Rules, King-Size Edition, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 84
    • I left 'em in the evidence locker. Someday, he's gonna come apologizing to me and I'll be the bigger man and let him have 'em.2014, Barry Lyga, Lucky Day: An I Hunt Killers Novella, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 39
    Synonyms:
    to be above

Synonyms of be the bigger man

  • to be above

Forms of be the bigger man

irregularsee conjugation of "be"

Questions about be the bigger man

What does be the bigger man mean?
Be the bigger man means to walk away from a conflict to prevent it from escalating.
What part of speech is be the bigger man?
Be the bigger man is a verb.

Words near be the bigger man in the dictionary

  1. be taken bad
  2. be taken ill
  3. be taken sick
  4. be thankful for small mercies
  5. be that as it may
  6. be the bigger man
  7. be the case
  8. be the worse for drink
  9. be there
  10. be there and be square
  11. be there or be square

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: be the bigger man (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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