Wikimore

English

Etymology

From big + cheese (“wealth, fame, importance”). Earliest use to mean importance from 1910.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)
Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#BIGCHEESE

Noun

big cheese (plural big cheeses)Category:English lemmas#BIGCHEESE Category:English nouns#BIGCHEESE Category:English countable nouns#BIGCHEESE Category:English multiword terms#BIGCHEESE Category:English entries with incorrect language header#BIGCHEESE Category:Pages with entries#BIG%20CHEESE Category:Pages with 1 entry#BIG%20CHEESE

(idiomatic Category:English idioms#BIGCHEESE, dated Category:English dated terms#BIGCHEESE) A very important figure, especially a high-ranking person in an organization.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:important person

He’ll be meeting with the big cheese first thing tomorrow, to present his proposal.Category:English terms with usage examples#BIGCHEESE
- 1980, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Airplane!, spoken by Rex Kramer (Robert Stack):
  I know. But it's his ship now, his command; he's in charge, he's the boss, the head man, the top dog, the big cheese, the head honcho, number one...
  Category:English terms with quotations#BIGCHEESE
- 1995, “Where The Money Goes”, in Rich Mendoza (music), Money Rock‎, performed by Schoolhouse Rock!/Jack Sheldon:
  If not for all these bills and taxes, our income would more than suffice. I feel like a real big cheese, until everybody takes a slice!
  Category:English terms with quotations#BIGCHEESE

Derived terms

grand fromage (literal French translation)

Translations

very important figure

Category:Entries with translation boxes#BIG%20CHEESE

Chinese:
Mandarin: (in any field) 大人物 (zh) (dàrénwù)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#BIG%20CHEESE Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#BIGCHEESE, (political or military VIP) 要人 (zh) (yàorén)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#BIG%20CHEESE Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#BIGCHEESE, (political or military VIP), 權勢之人 / 权势之人 (quánshìzhīrén)Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#BIGCHEESE, (colloquial; celebrity) 大腕兒 / 大腕儿 (dàwànr)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#BIG%20CHEESE Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#BIGCHEESE, 頭面人物 / 头面人物 (zh) (tóumiànrénwù)Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#BIGCHEESE, 龍頭老大 / 龙头老大 (zh) (lóngtóulǎodà)Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#BIGCHEESE
Czech: velké zvíře (cs) nCategory:Terms with Czech translations#BIGCHEESE, borec (cs) mCategory:Terms with Czech translations#BIGCHEESE, frajer (cs)Category:Terms with Czech translations#BIGCHEESE, frajer (cs) mCategory:Terms with Czech translations#BIGCHEESE, machr (cs) mCategory:Terms with Czech translations#BIGCHEESE, bourák (cs) mCategory:Terms with Czech translations#BIGCHEESE, hlavoun (cs) mCategory:Terms with Czech translations#BIGCHEESE
Dutch: bobo (nl) mCategory:Terms with Dutch translations#BIGCHEESE, hoge piet mCategory:Terms with Dutch translations#BIGCHEESE, bovenbaas (nl) mCategory:Terms with Dutch translations#BIGCHEESE
Finnish: iso kihoCategory:Terms with Finnish translations#BIGCHEESE
French: big boss mCategory:Terms with French translations#BIGCHEESE, grand chef (fr) mCategory:Terms with French translations#BIGCHEESE, (colloquial) grosse légume (fr) fCategory:Terms with French translations#BIGCHEESE, (informal) gros bonnet (fr)Category:Terms with French translations#BIGCHEESE, huile (fr) fCategory:Terms with French translations#BIGCHEESE, (derogatory) bonze (fr)Category:Terms with French translations#BIGCHEESE
German: hohes Tier (de) nCategory:Terms with German translations#BIGCHEESE, Bonze (de) mCategory:Terms with German translations#BIGCHEESE, dicker Fisch mCategory:Terms with German translations#BIGCHEESE
Hungarian: nagykutya (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#BIGCHEESE, főmufti (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#BIGCHEESE, fejes (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#BIGCHEESE
Irish: boc mór mCategory:Terms with Irish translations#BIGCHEESE (big buck)
Italian: pezzo grosso (it) mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE (fat fish), capo (it) mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, pezzo da novanta mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, pezzonovante mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, VIP (it) mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, papavero (it) mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, big (it) mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, notabile (it) mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, capoccia mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE, barbassoro (it) mCategory:Terms with Italian translations#BIGCHEESE
Japanese: 大物 (ja) (おおもの, ōmono)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#BIGCHEESE, 巨擘 (ja) (きょはく, kyohaku)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#BIGCHEESE, 要人 (ja) (ようじん, yōjin)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#BIGCHEESE
Luxembourgish: déckt DéierCategory:Terms with Luxembourgish translations#BIGCHEESE
Polish: gruba ryba (pl) fCategory:Terms with Polish translations#BIGCHEESE, szycha (pl) fCategory:Terms with Polish translations#BIGCHEESE, rekin (pl) mCategory:Terms with Polish translations#BIGCHEESE
Portuguese: figurão (pt) mCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#BIGCHEESE, bambambã (pt) m or fCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#BIGCHEESE (Brazil, informal)
Romanian: please add this translation if you canCategory:Requests for translations into Romanian#BIGCHEESE
Russian: больша́я ши́шка f (bolʹšája šíška)Category:Terms with Russian translations#BIGCHEESE (big fir-cone), ва́жная ши́шка f (vážnaja šíška)Category:Terms with Russian translations#BIGCHEESE (important fir-cone), ва́жная пти́ца f (vážnaja ptíca)Category:Terms with Russian translations#BIGCHEESE (important bird), ва́жная персо́на f (vážnaja persóna)Category:Terms with Russian translations#BIGCHEESE (important person), большо́й нача́льник m (bolʹšój načálʹnik)Category:Terms with Russian translations#BIGCHEESE (big boss), ши́шка (ru) f (šíška)Category:Terms with Russian translations#BIGCHEESE (fir-cone)
Sicilian: (big gun) pezza novanteCategory:Terms with Sicilian translations#BIGCHEESE
Spanish: pez gordo (es) m (literally “fat fish”)Category:Terms with Spanish translations#BIGCHEESE, cerote gordo mCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#BIGCHEESE, gerifalte (es) m or fCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#BIGCHEESE (colloquial), última chupada del mango f (literally “last suck of the mango”)Category:Terms with Spanish translations#BIGCHEESE (usually delusional), alto cargo m or fCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#BIGCHEESE
Swedish: höjdare (sv) cCategory:Terms with Swedish translations#BIGCHEESE, pamp (sv) cCategory:Terms with Swedish translations#BIGCHEESE
Tagalog: malaking taoCategory:Terms with Tagalog translations#BIGCHEESE
Ukrainian: цабе́ (uk) n (cabé)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE, ця́ця (uk) f (cjácja)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE, вели́ка ця́ця f (velýka cjácja)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE, важли́вий птах m (važlývyj ptax)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE, ва́жний птах m (vážnyj ptax)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE, важли́ва пти́ця f (važlýva ptýcja)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE, ва́жна пти́ця f (vážna ptýcja)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE, ши́шка f (šýška)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#BIGCHEESE
Welsh: pwysigyn mCategory:Terms with Welsh translations#BIGCHEESE

References

↑ Gary Martin (1997–), “Big cheese”, in The Phrase Finder.
↑ O. Henry (1910), Unprofessional Servant: “Del had crawled from some Tenth Avenue basement like a lean rat and had bitten his way into the Big Cheese... He had danced his way into fame in sixteen minutes.”

Category:en:People#BIGCHEESE

[1] Gary Martin (1997–), “Big cheese”, in The Phrase Finder.

[2] O. Henry (1910), Unprofessional Servant: “Del had crawled from some Tenth Avenue basement like a lean rat and had bitten his way into the Big Cheese... He had danced his way into fame in sixteen minutes.”

[1]

[2]