big shots
People with clout
Big shots are people of importance or influence—executives, politicians, celebrities, or anyone wielding significant power in their domain.
The term carries a faint note of irreverence, often used by those outside the inner circle: The big shots flew in for the meeting while the rest of us watched from our cubicles.
Someone who thinks they're a big shot has an inflated sense of their own importance.
- bigwigsInfluential, powerful people
- head honchoChief in charge
- magnateWealthy business leader
- mogulInfluential industry leader
- captain of industryPowerful business leader
fat cats · kingpins · heavy hitters · executive · tycoon · oligarch · influencer · notable · VIP · power brokers · bosses · clout · elite · baron · CEO · billionaire · policymaker · corner office
- eliteselites, plutocrats, oligarchs, aristocrats, blue bloods
- VIPscelebrities, superstars, head of state, stars, legend
- eliteelite, elites, aristocrats, nobility, best
- famous peoplecelebrity, star, stars, legend, icon
- leadersleader, boss, leaders, bosses, chiefs
- show-offsbraggarts, boasters, showboats, grandstanders, egotists
big shotsnobodies
Unimportant, unknown persons
small fry · little people · rank-and-file · peons · underlings
big shotsnobodies
Unimportant, unknown persons
unknowns · nonentities · faceless crowd · average Joes · John Does
big, shot, shooting, bigger, shots, biggest, shotgun, bigly, snapshot