Standard Lemma guide

bigwig

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • bĭgʹwĭg
  • /ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪɡ
  • CMU ARPABET: B IH1 G W IH2 G Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A person of importance in a group or organization.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • The company bigwig is gathering his staff together for a meeting today.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: big cheese, VIP, baron, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot, bigwig, 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

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the most important person in a group or undertaking

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: kingpin, top banana

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: important person, influential person, personage

History

Etymology

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.

Across languages

Translations

43 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: velké zvíře — A person of importance
  • Czech: papaláš — A person of importance
  • Dutch: hoge ome — A person of importance
  • Dutch: bobo — A person of importance
  • Dutch: dikkop — A person of importance
  • Dutch: kopstuk — A person of importance
  • Esperanto: grandulo — A person of importance
  • Estonian: suur nina — A person of importance
  • Estonian: tähtis tegelane — A person of importance
  • Finnish: pamppu — A person of importance
  • Finnish: napamies — A person of importance
  • Finnish: silmäätekevä — A person of importance
  • Finnish: kiho — A person of importance
  • French: grosse légume — A person of importance
  • French: huile — A person of importance
  • French: gros bonnet — A person of importance
  • French: bonze — A person of importance
  • French: grosse pointure — A person of importance
  • German: hohes Tier — A person of importance
  • German: Persönlichkeit — A person of importance
  • German: Bonze — A person of importance
  • German: Großkopferter — A person of importance
  • Hebrew: איש חשוב מאוד (ish hashuv meod) — A person of importance
  • Indonesian: kakap — A person of importance
  • Irish: boc mór — A person of importance
  • Italian: capo — A person of importance
  • Italian: barbassoro — A person of importance
  • Italian: pataffione — A person of importance
  • Italian: pallone gonfiato — A person of importance
  • Japanese: 大物 (ōmono) — A person of importance
  • Macedonian: чауш (čauš) — A person of importance
  • Polish: gruba ryba — A person of importance
  • Polish: szycha — A person of importance
  • Polish: figura — A person of importance
  • Polish: VIP — A person of importance
  • Russian: большая ши́шка (bolʹšaja šíška) — A person of importance
  • Russian: важная пти́ца (važnaja ptíca) — A person of importance
  • Spanish: pez gordo — A person of importance
  • Spanish: barón — A person of importance
  • Spanish: mandamás — A person of importance
  • Spanish: jefazo — A person of importance
  • Swedish: höjdare — A person of importance
  • Welsh: pwysigyn — A person of importance