as in big(s)
the highest level of a field of endeavor
Broadway is the big leagues, and for big bucks theatergoers expect professionalism
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Recent Examples of big leagues
With prices so high, media companies are narrowing their packages, leaving some big leagues like the NBA spread across more networks and streamers.
—
Brian Steinberg, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
For the first time in a summer transfer window, spending on new signings by England’s top 20 clubs outstripped that of those in the other four big leagues — Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 — combined.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
That 2022 validation — Nvidia invested about $900 million into the company, now worth more than $2 billion — launched CoreWeave into the AI big leagues with access to the chipmaker’s most advanced products to build the powerful data centers used to serve and train many of OpenAI’s models.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Brian Steinberg, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
For the first time in a summer transfer window, spending on new signings by England’s top 20 clubs outstripped that of those in the other four big leagues — Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 — combined.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
That 2022 validation — Nvidia invested about $900 million into the company, now worth more than $2 billion — launched CoreWeave into the AI big leagues with access to the chipmaker’s most advanced products to build the powerful data centers used to serve and train many of OpenAI’s models.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for big leagues
major league
Noun
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President Paul DePodesta and Byrnes have established a vision for success, adding multiple major league players and implementing philosophical changes in the minors.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
12 Feb. 2026
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New additions include former players LaTroy Hawkins and Grady Sizemore, as well as bench coaches Mark Hallberg and Mike Rabelo, major league field coordinator Toby Gardenhire and new lead hitting coach Keith Beauregard.—
Betsy Helfand,
Twin Cities,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Big leagues.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/big%20leagues. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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