# duży / wielki



## Encolpius

Hello, what is the difference between *duży *and *wielki *if I want to express the size of something. 
Example: She/he has a big head. How to translate it: 
Ma dużą głowę. 
Ma wielką głowę. 
Thanks.


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## wolfbm1

Without more context, the default meaning of the word 'big' is 'duża.'

If the head is out of proportion when compared to the rest of the body it might mean 'wielka.'

"Wychodzi z jadalni ostatni. Na schodach potyka się o skurczonego gnomika z wielką głową." (Korpus PWN.)


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## jasio

"Wielki" is much bigger than "duży", so it's "huge" rather than just "big". Besides, although "duży" is typically literal, "wielki" is often used figuratively and in many contexts is translated as "great". So "on ma dużą głowę" means "he has a big head", while "to wielka głowa" may also mean that the bearer is a very wise or intelligent person. "He is in big troubles" we would translate as "on ma wielkie kłopoty" (also "ogromne" or "poważne" in this case) rather than "*duże". "Jan Paweł Wielki" is "John Paul the Great".


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## MateuszMoś

Hello, according to my experience, the meaning of the word "wielki" is sometimes flattering, but, on the other hand, it can turn out to be highly offensive or even disgusting.


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## jasio

MateuszMoś said:


> it can turn out to be highly offensive or even disgusting.



Hard to imagine from the top of my head. Any examples?


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## kknd

jasio said:


> Hard to imagine from the top of my head. Any examples?


i can only imagine ‟wielkie dzięki” or similar at the moment (used ironically; but it is perfectly fine to use this phrase plainly, as a means of sincere thanks).


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## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> Hard to imagine from the top of my head. Any examples?



Wielki łajdak, łotr, skurwiel, bandyta, zbrodniarz, oszust, kłamca, ...


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## jasio

Correct me, if I'm wrong, but IMHO the statement:


MateuszMoś said:


> Hello, according to my experience, the  meaning of the word "wielki" is sometimes flattering, but, on the other  hand, it can turn out to be highly offensive or even disgusting.


refers to a situation when a neutral or a positive statement gets a negative flavour just because the adjective "wielki" is used.

This is NOT the case with your examples: 


Ben Jamin said:


> Wielki łajdak, łotr, skurwiel, bandyta, zbrodniarz, oszust, kłamca, ...


because all of the nouns you quoted are negative/critical/offensive by themselves, aren't they?


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## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> because all of the nouns you quoted are negative/critical/offensive by themselves, aren't they?


It seems as if the continuity of this underthread was broken. You wrote that you couldn't recall any examples for using *wielki* with a negative connotation, and I gave you such examples. Sorry for not giving a better reference to what I was answering to"


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