What does bigged mean?
"Bigged" is the past tense and past participle of the verb "big," which has two main strands of meaning. Literally, it can mean to enlarge or make bigger, though this use is now rare and sounds somewhat old-fashioned. Far more familiar today is the informal, chiefly British and Caribbean-derived usage found in the phrase "bigged up," meaning praised, promoted, or talked up with enthusiasm — as when a musician gets bigged up by radio DJs ahead of a release. The word carries an energetic, colloquial flavor and belongs firmly to casual speech rather than formal writing; in polished prose, alternatives such as "praised," "hyped," or "extolled" are preferred. Historically, the verb traces back through Middle English to Old Norse influence, where a related form meant to build or dwell. Though modest in everyday frequency, "bigged up" remains a vivid fixture of modern slang, making "bigged" worth recognizing when encountered in journalism, music culture, or conversation.
verbPast tense and past participle of the verb "big," meaning to make larger or to praise or promote someone or something enthusiastically; in modern informal use it appears chiefly in the phrase "big up" (e.g., "got bigged up"). In older dialectal English, "big" also meant to build.
- Enlarged or made bigger (rare, literal use)
- Praised, promoted, or hyped enthusiastically, especially in the phrase 'bigged up' (informal)
"The young band were bigged up by every local DJ before their first album even dropped."
"The developers bigged out the warehouse to double its storage capacity."
"Critics bigged up the film so much that the actual screening felt like an anticlimax."
"Bigged up" started on Caribbean sound-systems before conquering British slang — proof that a three-letter word can carry serious swagger.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bigged
The verb "big" derives from Middle English "biggen," meaning to build or inhabit, which was borrowed from or reinforced by Old Norse "byggja." Over time the sense shifted in some dialects toward simply making bigger, aligning with the adjective "big." The modern slang extension — praising or promoting someone, as in "big up" — emerged in Jamaican and broader Caribbean English in the twentieth century and spread into mainstream British slang via reggae, dancehall, and hip-hop culture.
Related word forms
How bigged is actually used
Informal register throughout; the participial form survives almost exclusively in the slang phrase "bigged up," common in British and Caribbean-influenced English. The plain past tense "bigged" outside this phrase sounds unusual or dated to most speakers.
Easily confused with bigged
"Bugged" means annoyed or fitted with a listening device, whereas "bigged" is the past form of the verb "big," meaning enlarged or enthusiastically praised.