noun🎓 English idiom
big shot
an important or influential person
What it means
A big shot is someone with significant power, status, or influence — a high-ranking executive, politician, or local figure that everyone knows. The phrase can be straightforwardly descriptive, but it often carries a slight edge of sarcasm or envy, especially when used about someone showing off their importance.
Examples
- He acts like a big shot since he got promoted to director.
- All the big shots from the industry showed up at the conference.
- Don't try to impress the big shots — just do good work.
- She's a big shot in the local art scene.
Where it comes from
Early 20th-century American slang, building on the older sense of 'shot' as an important person (as in 'a big gun'). By the 1920s 'big shot' was firmly attached to powerful business and underworld figures in U.S. newspapers and fiction.
Related idioms
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