significant

[ sig-nif-i-kuhnt ]
See synonyms for: significantsignificantssignificantly on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. important and deserving of attention; of consequence: Their advice played a significant role in saving my marriage.

  2. relatively large in amount or quantity: a significant decrease in revenue.

  1. having or expressing a meaning; indicative: a significant symbol of royalty.

  2. having a special, secret, or disguised meaning; suggestive: a significant wink.

  3. Statistics. of or relating to observations that are unlikely to occur by chance and that therefore indicate a systematic cause: Memory training produced a statistically significant improvement in group performance.

noun
  1. something significant; a sign.

Origin of significant

1
First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin significant- (stem of significāns ), present participle of the verbsignificāre “to indicate, denote”; see signify, -ant

Other words for significant

Other words from significant

  • sig·nif·i·cant·ly, adverb
  • non·sig·nif·i·cant, adjective
  • su·per·sig·nif·i·cant, adjective
  • un·sig·nif·i·cant, adjective

Words Nearby significant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use significant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for significant

significant

/ (sɪɡˈnɪfɪkənt) /


adjective
  1. having or expressing a meaning; indicative

  2. having a covert or implied meaning; suggestive

  1. important, notable, or momentous

  2. statistics of or relating to a difference between a result derived from a hypothesis and its observed value that is too large to be attributed to chance and that therefore tends to refute the hypothesis

Origin of significant

1
C16: from Latin significāre to signify

Derived forms of significant

  • significantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012