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whopper

whopper

9 4.5
A very large thing that surprises people, like a fish or meal
  • noun
  • /ˈwɑːpər/
: gigante
  • She told a whopper about her vacation, claiming it was the best trip ever.
  • Whopper burger
  • double Whopper
  • Whopper sandwich

But they have this which is a huge whopper of a candle with that scent.

Examples

  • Nothing is worse than unwrapping the whopper only to find they skimped on the pickle.

  • When you think of these experienced fishermen being afraid, this must have been one whopper of a storm.

    Blog text (9)
  • This time I caught a whopper.

  • This one is a whopper.

  • I think it really depends on how big the whopper is.

    Blog text (30)
  • But they have this which is a huge whopper of a candle with that scent.

  • Yes, I'm sure this conference totals a whopper-sized bill.

    Blog text (2)
  • Chances are he's at Burger King right now downing a Whopper.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • That fish was a real whopper, weighing over twenty pounds.

  • The new skyscraper in the city is a stunning whopper that towers above all the others.

Synonyms

giant
vswhopper
73 1.0

A very large and strong person or thing

stresses notable size and impressiveness more than physical strength
jumbo
vswhopper
73 2.5

A very large thing like a pizza or teddy bear

emphasizes unusual size together with a strong impressive quality
whacker
vswhopper
  • UK
1 9.6

A thing that is much larger or more impressive than usual

has identical meaning but differs only in wording or style
lunker
vswhopper
  • Informal
8.9

A very large person, animal, or thing that is impressive in size

is the general term for any unusually large or impressive item

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

Not large in size or amount

104 4.1

Not important or too small to matter

Compounds

A dive where your stomach hits the water and hurts

How Big

whopper
9 4.5
huge
∞ 1.0
large
∞ 1.0
big
∞ 1.0
small
2 1.1

Surface Forms

whopper singular
whoppers plural

Morphology

whopper = whop (semi-transparent) = whop + er

The nominal '-er' forms a noun meaning 'a large thing' via the related adjective 'whopping'; learners familiar with 'whopping' or 'whop' may infer size, but the leap from 'strike' to 'large' is a semantic extension.

Etymology

Whopper for something unusually large comes from the same idea as whopping ('very large') and the verb whop ('to hit'). Think of a big 'whop' as a strong, large strike, and that's why a whopper is an unusually big or impressive example of its kind.