giant
Americannoun
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giants
plural
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(in folklore) a being with human form but superhuman size, strength, etc.
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a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.; major figure; legend.
a giant in her field; an intellectual giant.
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(often initial capital letter) any of the Gigantes.
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Mining. monitor.
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Astronomy. giant star.
adjective
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unusually large, great, or strong; gigantic; huge.
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greater or more eminent than others.
noun
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Also (feminine): giantess. a mythical figure of superhuman size and strength, esp in folklore or fairy tales
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a person or thing of exceptional size, reputation, etc
a giant in nuclear physics
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Greek myth any of the large and powerful offspring of Uranus (sky) and Gaea (earth) who rebelled against the Olympian gods but were defeated in battle
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pathol a person suffering from gigantism
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astronomy See giant star
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mining another word for monitor
adjective
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remarkably or supernaturally large
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architect another word for colossal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of giant
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English geant, from Old French, from Latin gigant-, stem of gigās, from Greek Gígās; replacing Old English gigant, from Latin, as above
Explanation
A giant is someone that's unusually enormous. You can also use the word giant to describe something or someone that is really big. That giant green guy over there? That's the jolly green giant. Ho ho ho. A star basketball player might be described as a giant, or a stunningly tall redwood tree, or even a very large business. These giants come from the giants of mythology, huge creatures that are featured in fairy and folk tales and inspired by the giants of Greek myth, who were a separate race of strong, aggressive gods. The Greek root is Gigas, with the plural form Gigantes.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The pair opted last year to maintain its relationship with the streaming giant, signing another multiyear, first-look deal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Then, he was a military commander in Bamiyan, where the Taliban blew up ancient giant Buddha statues, triggering international shock and condemnation.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Here's what you need to know about the clothing giant, which has faced allegations of labour and environmental abuses as well as regulatory scrutiny abroad.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
The biopharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb chose Anthropic’s Claude as its “standard harness” to avoid rebuilding basic infrastructure tooling, according to Greg Meyers, its chief digital and technology officer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Ruth held out an empty giant nacho cheese can.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
A sweeping agreement with startup Poolside aims to build an open artificial-intelligence ecosystem in the U.S. that would compete with Chinese heavyweights and American AI giants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Arbeloa was promoted from Real Madrid B to replace Alonso when he was sacked by the Spanish giants in January last season.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Like other fast-fashion giants including H&M and Zara, Shein has faced allegations of underpaying and overworking textile workers at its factories.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Jonathan Golub, chief equity strategist at Seaport Research, said Nvidia’s results aren’t a referendum just on the cloud giants behind the industry’s gargantuan data-center push, but also on all the other businesses supporting the technology.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
Perhaps a beanstalk will grow to the clouds and an adventure with giants will ensue.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
