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whopper

whopper

9 4.5
A very large thing that surprises people, like a fish or meal
  • noun
  • /ˈwɑːpər/
translation icon : 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.