Standard Lemma guide

greater

adj · 6 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.

UK: grā'tə ɹ
UK: /ˈɡɹeɪtə/
US: /ˈɡɹeɪtɚ/
US: [ˈɡɹeɪɾɚ]
US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪtə(ɹ)
homophone: grater
CMU ARPABET: G R EY1 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

adj

Meaning 1

comparative form of great: more great

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: comparative, form-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adj

Meaning 2

Of two (or, rarely, more than two) things: the larger in size (bigger), in value, in importance etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

greater yellowlegs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: lesser

adj

Meaning 3

In the names of places or geographic features:

The larger geographic or administrative area that encompasses or belongs to a place (especially if both share the same name).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, not-comparable

Examples

Greater Antilles

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adj

Meaning 4

In the names of places or geographic features:

Including the surrounding urban areas and conurbation (of a city or other large settlement).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, capitalized, not-comparable, usually

Examples

Greater London
Greater New York includes adjacent parts of three states, as well as the City itself.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adj

Meaning 5

In the names of places or geographic features:

Referring to a state at its fullest historical (or desired future) extent including colonies, annexed land, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, not-comparable

Examples

Greater Armenia

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adjective

Meaning 6

greater in size or importance or degree

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

for the greater good of the community
the greater Antilles

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: lesser

History

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Arabic: أَكْبَر (ʔakbar) — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
Arabic: كُبْرَى (kubrā) — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
Chinese Mandarin: 大 (dà) — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
Finnish: suuri — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
Finnish: suurempi — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
German: groß — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
Spanish: mayor — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
Spanish: más grande / importante / grandioso — of two things, the larger in size, value, importance etc
Chinese Mandarin: 大 (dà) — area with surrounding region
Danish: Stor- — area with surrounding region
Finnish: suur- — area with surrounding region
French: grand — area with surrounding region
German: Groß- — area with surrounding region
Hebrew: רבתי (rabati) — area with surrounding region
Russian: большо́й (bolʹšój) — area with surrounding region
Telugu: ఘనతర (ghanatara) — area with surrounding region

Word forms

Inflections and variants

No separate word forms were provided.

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: Greater Accra, greater adjutant, Greater Adria, greater alar cartilage, Greater Antilles, greater argentine, greater argonaut, Greater Armenia, greater bamboo lemur, Greater Bendigo, greater big-footed mouse, greater bilby, greater black-backed gull, Greater Britain, greater capybara, Greater Caucasus, greater celandine, Greater China, greater crested tern, greater evil, greater flamingo, greater fool theory, greater galago, greater galangal, Greater Geelong, Greater Geraldton, Greater German Reich, greater glider, greater good, greater green leafbird, Greater Hebrides, Greater Iran, Greater Israel, greater kudu, Greater London, Greater Manchester, Greater Middle East, Greater Minnesota, Greater Mongolia, greater mouse-eared bat, greater multangular, Greater Napanee, greater occipital nerve, greater of two evils, greater omentum, greater one-horned rhinoceros, greater palatine artery, greater petrosal nerve, greater plantain, Greater Poland, greater prairie chicken, greater rhea, greater roadrunner, greater sac, greater sandplover, greater saphenous vein, greater scaup, Greater Shepparton, greater short-toed lark, greater siren, greater spotted eagle, Greater Sudbury, Greater Syria, greater than, greater trochanter, Greater United States, Greater Upper Nile, Greater Vancouver, greater wax moth, greater weever, greater white-fronted goose, greater whitethroat, Greater Willington, greater wing, greater yam, greater yellow-headed vulture, northern greater galago, to a greater extent

Related: greatest

Spelling and sound

Hyphenation and homophones

Homophones: grater

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

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