bigwig
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
bigwig
- /ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/
Rhymes with -ɪɡ
Where it comes from
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.
noun bigwigs · big wig · big-wig
-
A person of importance in a group or organization.
The company bigwig is gathering his staff together for a meeting today.
Similar: big cheese, VIP, baron, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot, bigwig, big wheel
Translations
Every language
noun A person of importance
| Español | pez gordo, barón, mandamás, jefazo |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 大物 ōmono |
| Français | grosse légume, huile, gros bonnet, bonze, grosse pointure |
| Deutsch | hohes Tier, Persönlichkeit, Bonze, Großkopferter |
| Italiano | capo, barbassoro, pataffione, pallone gonfiato |
| Русский | большая ши́шка bolʹšaja šíška, важная пти́ца važnaja ptíca |
| עברית | איש חשוב מאוד ish hashuv meod |
Talk about this word "bigwig." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bigwig. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bigwig. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bigwig "bigwig." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bigwig.Cite this
@misc{bigwig_2026,
title = {bigwig},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bigwig},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
