big gun

noun

: one having preeminent status or power in a field

Synonyms

• big
• big boy
• big cheese
• big leaguer
• big shot
• big wheel
• big-timer
• bigfoot
• biggie
• bigwig
• fat cat
• heavy
• heavy hitter
• heavyweight
• high-muck-a-muck
• high-muckety-muck
• honcho
• kahuna
• kingfish
• kingpin
• major leaguer
• muckety-muck
• muck-a-muck
• mucky-muck
• nabob
• nawab
• nibs
• nob [chiefly British]
• pooh-bah
• poo-bah
• wheel

Examples of big gun in a Sentence

for a high-profile case like this, the law firm uses only its big guns

Recent Examples on the Web

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has been exceptional, the Panthers’ opportunistic scoring has maximized every mistake Edmonton has made, and the Oilers’ big guns have yet to find a way to finish their chances. —Bailey Johnson, Washington Post, 15 June 2024

Edmonton’s second big gun, Draisaitl, took a cross-ice pass and one-timed it. —Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 14 June 2024

For Louis, as for Frederick the Great a century later, real power could come only from big battalions and big guns. —Arjun Chowdhury, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2010

And Ukraine is getting its big guns ready to resume blasting away. —David Axe, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above