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

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

This was the ethos that Bitcoin and crypto came from, that of empowering individuals and not third parties like banks, big government or, in this case, curators and directors. —Zain Jaffer, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2024

The Biden administration is embedding big government in American life. —Ryan Ellis, National Review, 13 June 2024

Would that record be an asset, Tapper asked, or just allow Trump to label Walz another big government liberal? —Patricia Lopez, The Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1925, in the meaning defined above