Another Big Problem for Writers: Overuse of Big

If you search the net for “most overused words in writing,” big will appear on the majority of lists you find. This post provides more than one hundred alternatives.

Workarounds Can Add Character to Your Writing

Compare the following sets of sentences.

Bernard’s ego was bigger than his bank account.

Bernard’s ego outmatched his mammoth bank account.

Readers could misunderstand the first sentence. Although they might assume Bernard has a big bank account, the second sentence leaves no doubt and replaces was with a more active verb.

The big tiger moved silently through the grass.

The behemoth tiger stalked silently through the grass.

The second example replaces big with behemoth, an appropriate description for a large tiger. A more active verb completes the transformation.

The big bruise on Sylvia’s arm was obvious, even under several layers of makeup.

Sylvia couldn’t conceal the monstrous bruise on her arm, no matter how much makeup she slathered over it.

In the second sentence, monstrous leaves no doubt about the size of the bruise. Why does Sylvia try to conceal it? Did you notice the removal of was?

“Give me the biggest suitcase,” Mya said. “I’ll be gone for eight days.”

“Give me the jumbo suitcase,” Mya said. “I’ll be gone for eight days.”

In this scenario, jumbo seems the perfect adjective.

A big crowd showed up for the inauguration, although not as big as many had expected.

An appreciable crowd showed up for the inauguration, although not as humongous as many had hoped.

The above presents a prime example of how subtle word choices can alter the feel of a sentence.

The dentist looked into my mouth. “That’s a big cavity you’ve got there, Stefania.”

The dentist peered into my mouth. “That’s an enormous cavity you’ve got there, Stefania.”

Enormous implies a cavity that might require dental work such as a crown, extraction, or root canal. Other descriptors like considerable or substantial would provide less dramatic pictures.

Show the Bigness

Without relying on any adjectives from the list at the bottom of this post, we can still show big.

I had a big crush on the deliveryman.

Every time the deliveryman knocked on the door, my pulse raced, and my cheeks flamed.

The second sentence provides a classic specimen of tell converted to show.

The big story of the day’s entertainment news was the divorce of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

The divorce of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt dominated the day’s entertainment news.

The second sentence provides another removal of was and eliminates the size descriptor.

My big worry is that my hair will turn grey before I reach forty. I already see wiry white strands.

Whenever I spot another wiry white strand, I panic. Will my hair turn grey before I reach forty?

The first paragraph illustrates classic tell. The second shows, with panic replacing big worry. We see a narrator who might be overdramatic or narcissistic.

Try Word Combinations With –sized to Show Largeness

A cockroach-sized red ant bit my ankle.

Every night two cougar-sized alley cats roamed the neighborhood, searching for rodents.

Boulder-sized mushrooms squished underfoot as the hunter crept through the forest.

A deluge of egg-sized raindrops drenched the ground within seconds.

Saucer-sized green eyes glowed from every crevice in the cave.

Have You Chosen the Appropriate Connotation?

Perhaps big is the wrong nuance.

Big footfalls might be better as ponderous footfalls.

Does your WIP describe a big crisis that affects everyone in a city? You could change it to a citywide crisis. Likewise for countries: countrywide crisis. The entire Earth? Try worldwide or global.

You could label Tim’s big impetus as his overarching impetus.

Better alternatives for Brandon’s big desire might be Brandon’s yearning or Brandon’s obsession.

Ready for a Few Exercises?

Rewrite the following, editing out all forms of big. Use at will as story prompts.

#1. A big storm blew in from the north, pelting the street with big hailstones. The projectiles smashed windows, dented cars, and decimated trees.

I scrambled into a big garbage bin behind the pharmacy and listened to nature’s big bullets beating on the metal. When I reached to massage a cramp in my left toe, my fingers dipped into something smelly and slimy.

I puked. [Why does the narrator puke? Because of the smell? Because he recognizes the slimy material? Because he’s allergic to something in the garbage bin?]

#2. Nobody knew Phil’s big secret. Except me. The big burden haunted me day and night. Every time I closed my eyes, even to blink, I could see the big horror of what he had done. He had me to lean on, but I had no one. How could I live with this knowledge?

#3. Fourteen days until the big event. Fourteen days of planning and pacing and worrying. Could I pull it off? It would be a big challenge — one I planned to meet.

But you know what they say about the plans of mice and men.

#4. “Excuse me, everyone,” said the boss, “I have a big announcement to make. Starting today, you will all be eligible for big bonuses if you [Insert humorous or horrendous activity that workers must perform to earn those bonuses.]”

#5. Anderson Carter, 5 O’Clock National News anchor, adjusted his tie. “We have big news breaking from the White House this hour.” He scrutinized the paper that someone off camera had just handed him. “This can’t be right.”

His puzzled expression deepened as he tapped his earbud. “You’re sure?” He stared into the camera. “Big news, really big news. And remember, you heard it here first. According to reputable sources, [Insert something topical. Can you make it funny? Unbelievable? Horrible?]”

#6. Ruby maintained a big garden filled with a big assortment of vegetables, berries, and fruits. Every morning she strolled through the rows, her big skirts brushing big drops of dew off the leaves as she swished by. Each stroll led her to a well-groomed pansy bed big enough to be an adult grave.

She would stand, hands folded below her waist, with a big enigmatic smile on her face. Sometimes I heard her murmur. I could never quite make out what she said, but it sounded grim. What had Ruby buried under those pansies?

I decided to sneak into her garden that night with my garden trowel.

#7.  A big flash of blinding brilliance assaulted Trystan’s beady eyes. Shortly thereafter, a big boom resonated from the big cliffs across the canyon. He stumbled back a step. Big boulders and jagged rocks pelted the earth a few paces away. He grabbed his dead squire’s shield and raised it to protect his head.

No need.

The boulders transmutated into a gentle rain of flower petals. Every hair on Trystan’s body bristled, invigorated by an energy that could mean only one thing.

Magic was not dead.

Direct Replacements for Big

You’ll find a few of the following big alternatives sprinkled throughout this post. Pay attention to nuances. Ample does not provide the same impact as titanic.

#
2XL, 3XL

A to C
ample, appreciable, astronomical, bear-sized, behemoth, beyond-measure, boundless, broad, Brobdingnagian, bulky, capacious, colossal, commodious, considerable, cosmic, cyclopean

D to G
daunting, decuman, elephantine, enormous, epic, extensive, extra-large, formidable, galactic, gargantuan, generous, giant, giant-sized, gigantic, ginormous, goliath, grand, great

H to J
hefty, Herculean, honking, huge, hulking, humongous, immane [dated], immeasurable, immense, imposing, incalculable, inestimable, infinite, inordinate, jumbo

K to M
king-sized, large, leviathan, limitless, lofty, macroscopic, mammoth, massive, maxi, measureless, mega, mighty, mondo, monolithic, monstrous, monumental, mountainous, muckle

N to T
never-ending, Olympian, outsized, overlarge, oversized, prodigious, queen-sized, sizable, staggering, stupendous, substantial, super-sized, thumping, titanic, towering, tremendous

U to X
ubergross, ultra-large, unbounded, untold, vast, voluminous, walloping, wall-to-wall, whacking, whale-sized, whopping, wide, XL, XXL, XXXL