big tent
/ˌbɪɡ ˈtɛnt/
big tent noun: a group, philosophy, or social or political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of constituents or members, or views.
Noun
big tent (plural big tents)
- A group, philosophy, or social or political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of constituents or members, or views.
- Humanism is an expansive trisyllable, a veritable "big-tent" of a word, sheltering many varieties of performance under its spreading canvas.1930 October, Eugene Garret Bewkes, “Humanism and Ethics”, in James H[ayden] Tufts, editor, The International Journal of Ethics: A Quarterly Devoted to the Advancement of Ethical Knowledge and...
- The Democratic governor of Mississippi, Paul Johnson, has endorsed Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. […] He said he is confident that the majority of Mississippians "Have no desire to get under Lyndon Johnson's big tent and to share the company already assembled there."1964 September 9, “Goldwater endorsed in Mississippi”, in Graham M. Dean, editor, Porterville Evening Recorder, number 395, Porterville, Calif.: Graham M. Dean, →OCLC, page 1
- Synonyms:
- broad church, catch-all
Examples of big tent in a sentence
- As the organization metamorphoses, its supporters wonder whether A.A. [Alcoholics Anonymous] can or should be such a big tent.1995 July 10, Elizabeth Gleick [et al.], “Sobering Times for A.A.”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...
- While most of our successful sports franchises display some distinct personality, only the [Dallas] Cowboys offer the big tent.1996 September 8, “Why Cowboys Became Kings”, in Newsweek, New York, N.Y.: Newsweek, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26...
Synonyms of big tent
Forms of big tent
| plural | big tents |
|---|---|
| alternative form | big-tent |
Origin of big tent
From big (adjective) + tent, originally referring to a large tent set up to hold a public event attended by many people such as a circus or a religious meeting.
Words formed from big tent
Words that rhyme with big tent
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- repent
- ascent
- rent
- resent
- scent
- absent
- augment
- cement
- content
- extent
- fragment
- lent
- prevent
- anent
- consent
- dent
- dissent
- percent
- relent
- spent
- Tashkent
- tent
- accent
- circumvent
- convent
- discontent
- intent
- invent
- went
- %
- assent
- dement
- ferment
- foment
- gent
- Gwent
- incent
- lament
- malcontent
- reinvent
- stent
- underrepresent
- attent
- blent
- detent
- diapertent
- djent
- ent
Questions about big tent
- What does big tent mean?
- Big tent means a group, philosophy, or social or political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of constituents or members, or views.
- How do you use big tent in a sentence?
- As the organization metamorphoses, its supporters wonder whether A.A. [Alcoholics Anonymous] can or should be such a big tent.
- What part of speech is big tent?
- Big tent is a noun.
- How do you pronounce big tent?
- Big tent is pronounced /ˌbɪɡ ˈtɛnt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of big tent?
- The plural of big tent is big tents.
Words near big tent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: big tent (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-big tent.wav, En-us-big tent.oga.
Cite this entry: “big tent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/big_tent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.