Word.ws English Dictionary

big picture

US/bɪɡ ˈpɪk(t)ʃɚ/

big picture noun: the totality of a situation.

Noun

big picture (plural big pictures)

  1. The totality of a situation.
    • I do not care whether it is placed or not, if I get my stuff to that ship. Now, it is my job to look at the big picture.1941, United States House Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Merchant-marine inquiry forwarders: Executive hearings, page 35
    • We need somebody who will overlook the petty details, look at the big picture, decide what is necessary to end the war, make a plan,1951, US Senate Committee on Armed Services, Military situation in the Far East, page 3089
  2. (Ireland, UK, dated) The main film in a double feature.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see big, picture.

big picture meaning in Vietnamese

big picture in Vietnamese

totality of a situation
đại cục

Examples of big picture in a sentence

  • When the employees understood the big picture, they did even better at their jobs.1993, Bill Clinton, Presidential Radio Address - 31 July 1993:
  • Because the events span several months, it can be easy to lose track of the big picture and splurge at each event.2002, Kate Chynoweth, Neryl Walker, The Bridesmaid Guide:

Synonyms of big picture

Forms of big picture

pluralbig pictures

Origin of big picture

From a figurative sense of picture meaning "situation." First attested in 1904.

Questions about big picture

What does big picture mean?
Big picture means the totality of a situation.
What is big picture in Vietnamese?
Big picture in Vietnamese is đại cục. See Big picture meaning in Vietnamese.
How do you use big picture in a sentence?
When the employees understood the big picture, they did even better at their jobs.
What part of speech is big picture?
Big picture is a noun.
How do you pronounce big picture?
Big picture is pronounced /bɪɡ ˈpɪk(t)ʃɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of big picture?
The plural of big picture is big pictures.

Words near big picture in the dictionary

  1. Big Osage
  2. Big Pats Creek
  3. Big Peach
  4. big pharma
  5. big phat
  6. big picture
  7. big pictures
  8. Big Pine
  9. big pocket
  10. big pregnant
  11. Big Q

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: big picture (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-big picture.ogg.

Cite this entry: “big picture.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/big_picture. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.