groß

/ɡʁoːs/

adjective A1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

Forms

big, large
- Das ist ein großes Problem.
  
  That's a big problem.
tall — of a person's height

German uses groß where English switches to tall.
- Wie groß bist du?
  
  How tall are you?
- Sie ist einen Kopf größer als ich.
  
  She is a head taller than me.
great, major — of importance rather than size
- Es war eine große Ehre.
  
  It was a great honour.

Groß is the plain, everyday word for big; ungeheuer is a much stronger intensifier, "enormous, tremendous."

Gigantisch is an emphatic, intensified form of "big"; groß is the plain word for big/large.

Groß is the plain word for big; großartig is "great, magnificent," an intensified, admiring sense.

Similar in other languages

English

large is the English word for the same thing — both mean "big, large."

1 What does groß mean?

2 Which fingerprint chart matches groß?

The ß in groß becomes ss in Swiss Standard German (gross). This entry is reachable at both /de-en/groß/ and /de-en/gross/.

adjectivecore-vocabularyeszett

Last updated 2026-09-12