big government

noun

variants or Big Government

chiefly US

: government that is regarded as infringing upon the rights of individual citizens because of its extensive bureaucracy and intrusive regulations and policies

Big government, in the minds of many Americans, had become the problem, not the solution.

—Tom Morganthau

Especially coming from a Republican, the Hyde proposals smack uncharacteristically of Big Government, critics say.

—John Cloud

Examples of big government in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Inside the daily chaos of politics, there seems to be a new invisible foundation: the era of the era of big government being over is over. —Nicholas Lemann, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

Some of the lawyers have argued that the Justice Department treated Boeing gently because the company is a big government contractor. —Claire Rush, Chicago Tribune, 5 Oct. 2024

The settlement between Boeing and the Justice Department calls for Boeing — a big government contractor — to pay a fine and be placed on probation. —David Koenig, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024

This dislike of the idea of big government is another common rationale for shrinking the state. —Lane Kenworthy, Foreign Affairs, 14 June 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1925, in the meaning defined above