big cheese
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From big + cheese (“wealth, fame, importance”). Earliest use to mean importance from 1910.[1][2]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
big cheese (plural big cheeses)
- (idiomatic) 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.
- 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...
- 1995, “Where The Money Goes”, in Rich Mendoza (music), Money Rock[1], 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!
Derived terms[edit]
- grand fromage (literal French translation)
Translations[edit]
very important figure
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References[edit]
- ^ 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.”