What's your major field?
Source: tatoeba (17010)
Major
/ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/
Synonyms for "major" (270 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (54)
Strong matches (81)
coursecourse of studycriticalcrucialcurriculumdangerousdisciplinedistinguisheddominantdominatingdouble-barreleddramaticearthshakingeclipsingeldereldestelectiveeminentexceedingexcellent
Show 46 more words
excellingexecexecutive officerextensivefatefulfellfieldfield marshalfield officerfinerfirst lieutenantfirst-bornfirstlingfive-star generalforemostformerfour-star generalgeneralgeneral educationgeneral officergeneral studiesgeneralissimograndgravegreatgreatergrievousgrown mangrownupheavyweightheftyhigh poweredhigh-poweredhigherhumanitiesimportantin ascendancyin the ascendantjemadarjunior officerkeykey signaturekeynotelandmarklargelarge scale
Adjective(7 words)
dominant sharegreat impactsgreat majoritygreat progressgreatest parthuge differencekey argument
Noun(8 words)
Related words (135)
large-scalelargerlegalis homoliberal artslieutenantlieutenant colonellieutenant generalmainmajor generalmajor keymajor leaguemanmarechalmarkedmarshalmaterialmature manmediantminormomentous
Show 83 more words
nameno chickennotablenoteworthynoticeablenumber oneodof choiceofficerolderoldestone up onone-star generalorderly officeroutstandingoverparamountpedal pointpredominantpreeminentpressingprimaryprimeprimogenitaryprincipalproseminarquadriviumrarerefresher courserisaldarrivalingscientific educationself-importantseminarseniorsenior officerseriousshavetailsignificantsirdarsizablespecialspecialtysplendidstaff officerstarstellarstudysubahdarsubalternsubdisciplinesubdominantsubjectsublieutenantsubmediantsubstantialsubtonicsupersuperiorsupertonicsurpassingswingeingtechnical educationthe brassthe old manthree-star generaltonalitytonictonic keytop brasstoppingtranscendenttranscendentaltranscendingtriviumtwo-star generaluglyuppervitalwomanworld shakingworld-shakingworst
Adjective(10 words)
larger numberlargest partmain academic subjectmain armymain gathering areasmassive amountmassive impactsprofoundserious irregularitysignificant breakthrough
Noun(18 words)
mainmain featuremajmajor subjectmilestonemilitary rankmost of themost partmost studentsofficerprimaryprincipalquantumspecializationspecializesubstantial differencethe greater partuplifting
Determiner(2 words)
most spoken-languagemost state government elections
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: a cut above, above, academic specialty, adc, adult.
- Sentence evidence is available for major, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from moby, derived_reverse, opengloss.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "major".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "major"
Keep "major" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "major" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "major", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "major" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
23 entriesacademic disciplineacademic fieldbailiwickcommissioned military officerdisciplineeducateeeducationfieldfield of studyimportancemilitary rankmusic theorymusical termpupilrankscope
Showing 16 of 23 words.
More specific
11 entriesbiology majorcentral ideacomputer science majordeclare a majorenglish majorkey factormajor chordmajor keymajor scaleprincipal elementpursue a subject
Collocations
17 entriesbiology majorcollege majorcomputer science majordeclare a majorenglish majormajor chordmajor citymajor contributionmajor decisionmajor factormajor fieldmajor in biologymajor in historymajor scalemajor subjectpursue a major
Showing 16 of 17 words.
Inflections
5 entriesDerivations
4 entriesAntonyms
1 entriessimilar
7 entriesTranslations
146 translations across 61 languages.
Afrikaans
3 entries- majeur adj (music: of a scale)
- majeur adj (music: of an interval)
- majoor noun (military rank)
Albanian
1 entries- major noun (military rank)
Arabic
2 entries- تخصص noun (principal subject or course)
- رَائِد noun (military rank)
Armenian
1 entries- մայոր noun (military rank)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- mayor noun (military rank)
Belarusian
1 entries- маёр noun (military rank)
Bengali
1 entries- মেজর noun (military rank)
Bulgarian
3 entries- мажорен adj (music: of a scale)
- майо́р noun (military rank)
- специализация noun (principal subject or course)
Burmese
1 entries- ဗိုလ်မှူး noun (military rank)
Catalan
2 entries- major adj (music: of a scale)
- major noun (military rank)
Chinese Mandarin
4 entries- 主修 noun (principal subject or course)
- 專攻 /专攻 noun (principal subject or course)
- 專業 /专业 noun (principal subject or course)
- 少校 noun (military rank)
Czech
2 entries- dur adj (music: of a scale)
- major noun (military rank)
Danish
1 entries- major noun (military rank)
Dutch
2 entries- hoofdvak noun (principal subject or course)
- majoor noun (military rank)
Esperanto
2 entries- majoro noun (military rank)
- ĉefa fako noun (principal subject or course)
Estonian
1 entries- major noun (military rank)
Finnish
4 entries- duuri adj (music: of a scale)
- suuri adj (music: of an interval)
- majuri noun (military rank)
- pääaine noun (principal subject or course)
French
4 entries- majeur adj (music: of a scale)
- majeur adj (music: of an interval)
- chef d'escadron noun (military rank)
- chef d'escadrons noun (military rank)
Galician
1 entries- maior noun (military rank)
Georgian
1 entries- მაიორი noun (military rank)
German
4 entries- dur adj (music: of a scale)
- Hauptfach noun (principal subject or course)
- Hauptstudienfach noun (principal subject or course)
- Hauptstudiengang noun (principal subject or course)
Greek
4 entries- μείζων adj (music: of a scale)
- ειδικευόμενος noun (student specializing in a specified subject)
- ειδικότητα noun (principal subject or course)
- επισμηναγός noun (military rank)
Hindi
1 entries- मेजर noun (military rank)
Hungarian
4 entries- dúr adj (music: of a scale)
- nagy adj (music: of an interval)
- (… szakos) hallgató noun (student specializing in a specified subject)
- alapszak noun (principal subject or course)
Indonesian
3 entries- jurusan noun (principal subject or course)
- jurusan noun (student specializing in a specified subject)
- mayor noun (military rank)
Irish
3 entries- maor noun (military rank)
- maor airm noun (military rank)
- príomhábhar noun (principal subject or course)
Italian
4 entries- maggiore adj (music: of a scale)
- maggiore adj (music: of an interval)
- corso di laurea noun (principal subject or course)
- laurea noun (principal subject or course)
Japanese
3 entries- 専攻 noun (principal subject or course)
- 少佐 noun (military rank)
- 少領 noun (military rank)
Korean
3 entries- 소령 noun (military rank)
- 소좌 noun (military rank)
- 전공 noun (principal subject or course)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- миң башы noun (military rank)
Lao
1 entries- ພັນຕີ noun (military rank)
Latin
2 entries- maior noun (military rank)
- major noun (military rank)
Latvian
1 entries- majors noun (military rank)
Lithuanian
1 entries- majoras noun (military rank)
Macedonian
1 entries- ма́јор noun (military rank)
Malay
1 entries- mejar noun (military rank)
Manx
1 entries- ard-chaptan noun (military rank)
Mongolian
1 entries- хошууч noun (military rank)
Māori
1 entries- meiha noun (military rank)
Norwegian
1 entries- dur adj (music: of a scale)
Persian
2 entries- ماژور adj (music: of a scale)
- سرگرد noun (military rank)
Polish
4 entries- dur adj (music: of a scale)
- kierunek noun (principal subject or course)
- major noun (military rank)
- rozszerzenie noun (principal subject or course)
Portuguese
3 entries- maior adj (music: of a scale)
- maior adj (music: of an interval)
- major noun (military rank)
Romanian
2 entries- maior noun (military rank)
- maiori noun (military rank)
Russian
4 entries- мажо́рный adj (music: of a scale)
- мажо́рный adj (music: of an interval)
- гла́вный предме́т noun (principal subject or course)
- майо́р noun (military rank)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- bȏjnica noun (military rank)
- bȏjnīk noun (military rank)
- màjōr noun (military rank)
- бо̑јница noun (military rank)
Sicilian
2 entries- majuri noun (military rank)
- supiriuri noun (military rank)
Slovak
1 entries- major noun (military rank)
Slovene
2 entries- majór noun (military rank)
- majórka noun (military rank)
Spanish
4 entries- mayor adj (music: of a scale)
- asignatura principal noun (principal subject or course)
- carrera académica [mayor] noun (principal subject or course)
- comandante noun (military rank)
Swahili
1 entries- meja noun (military rank)
Swedish
2 entries- huvudämne noun (principal subject or course)
- major noun (military rank)
Tagalog
1 entries- kalakhan noun (principal subject or course)
Tajik
1 entries- майор noun (military rank)
Tatar
1 entries- майор noun (military rank)
Telugu
1 entries- మేజరు noun (military rank)
Thai
2 entries- พันตรี noun (military rank)
- วิชาเอก noun (principal subject or course)
Turkish
3 entries- majör adj (music: of a scale)
- binbaşı noun (military rank)
- bölüm noun (principal subject or course)
Ukrainian
2 entries- майо́р noun (military rank)
- спеціа́льність noun (principal subject or course)
Uzbek
1 entries- mayor noun (military rank)
Vietnamese
1 entries- thiếu tá noun (military rank)
Sample sentences
25 total sentences available.
Tension is a major cause of heart disease.
Source: tatoeba (18788)
The manager has put him back in the major league.
Source: tatoeba (20991)
According to some scholars, a major earthquake could occur at any moment now.
Source: tatoeba (21463)
Showing 4 of 25 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "major"?
Closest matches include a cut above, above, academic specialty, adc, adult.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "major"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.