bigwig
/ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/
bigwig noun: a person of importance in a group or organization.
Noun
bigwig (plural bigwigs)
- A person of importance in a group or organization.
- The company bigwig is gathering his staff together for a meeting today.
- […] more innocently, and no doubt profitably, than if he had dined at a big-wig's board or bemused himself with smoke and beer among his brethren of the pen.1891, Grace L. Keith Johnston, The Halletts: A Country Town Chronicle, volume 3, page 34
- Synonyms:
- big cheese, VIP, baron, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot
bigwig meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Punjabi
bigwig in Tamil
- தலையானவர், பெரிய மனிதர், பெரும் செல்வந்தர், முதல்வர்
bigwig in Malayalam
- important person, VIP, notable
- പ്രമാണി, വലിയവൻ, പൗരപ്രധാനി, വളരെ പ്രധാനിയായ വ്യക്തി, പ്രധാനി, നായകൻ
bigwig in Kannada
- ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಿತ, ಗಣ್ಯವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ಪ್ರಮುಖ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ಉನ್ನತ ಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿರುವವನು
bigwig in Punjabi
- bigwig, leader
- ਚੌਧਰੀ caudhrī
More languagesFewer languages
- bigwig in Indonesian
- kakap
Synonyms of bigwig
29 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- big wheel
- boss
- grand poobah
- head honcho
- heavy hitter
- heavyweight
- high muckamuck
- high muckety-muck
- king of all one surveys
- king of the castle
- king of the hill
- kingpin
- macher
- mayor
- muckamuck
- muckety muck
- mugwump
- numero uno
- panjandrum
- poobah
- rooster
- somebody
- top banana
- top boy
- top cat
- top dog
- top gun
- very important person
- wheel
Forms of bigwig
| plural | bigwigs |
|---|---|
| alternative form | big wig |
| alternative form | big-wig |
Origin of bigwig
First arose in the 1730s, from big + wig. Formerly, English men of authority (such as judges and Members of Parliament) wore wigs. Bigwig plays on the idea that higher authority is denoted by a larger wig.
Words formed from bigwig
Words that rhyme with bigwig
Questions about bigwig
- What does bigwig mean?
- Bigwig means a person of importance in a group or organization.
- What is bigwig in Tamil?
- Bigwig in Tamil is தலையானவர், பெரிய மனிதர், பெரும் செல்வந்தர். See Bigwig meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is bigwig?
- Bigwig is a noun.
- How do you pronounce bigwig?
- Bigwig is pronounced /ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/.
- What is the plural of bigwig?
- The plural of bigwig is bigwigs.
Words near bigwig in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bigwig (page history and authors); bigwig (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bigwig (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); bigwig (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਚੌਧਰੀ (Punjabi) (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-bigwig.wav.
Cite this entry: “bigwig.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bigwig. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.