Dictionary

big tent en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• (General-American) audio
• /ˌbɪɡ ˈtɛnt/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From big (adjective) + tent, originally referring to a large tent set up to hold a public event attended by many people such as a circus or a religious meeting.

Meanings

1. (also, attributive, idiomatic) A group, philosophy, or social or political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of constituents or members, or views.
   • #MeToo, that vast and disembodied and ongoing protest march, has been subject to similar dynamics: the big tent, flinging its flaps ever wider; the entropic impulse as both a matter of promise and a matter of peril. 2018 July 4, Megan Garber, “Is #MeToo Too Big?”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Nov 2023:
   • And here in essence is the problem with the Democrats' big tent, as well as the grounds for a wholly new kind of culture war that is probably going to make us long for the clear lines and simple enmities of the old one. 2008 December 6, Caitlin Flanagan, Benjamin Schwarz, “Showdown in the big tent”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022:
   • They are not a slice of Americana, as we usually say, but rather, a broad brush of it. While most of our successful sports franchises display some distinct personality, only the [Dallas] Cowboys offer the big tent. 1996 September 8, “Why Cowboys Became Kings”, in Newsweek, New York, N.Y.: Newsweek, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2024:
   • Humanism is an expansive trisyllable, a veritable "big-tent" of a word, sheltering many varieties of performance under its spreading canvas. 1930 October, Eugene Garret Bewkes, “Humanism and Ethics”, in James H[ayden] Tufts, editor, The International Journal of Ethics: A Quarterly Devoted to the Advancement of Ethical Knowledge and Practice, volume XLI, number 1, Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 14–15:
   • Vox was established a decade ago when its leader, Santiago Abascal, split from the Popular Party, long a big center-right tent that included monarchists, libertarian supporters of same-sex marriage, ultraconservative Catholics and Spaniards who detested the independence movements of the north. 2023 July 24, Jason Horowitz, “What the collapse of Spain’s far right means going forward”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2023:
   • The Democratic governor of Mississippi, Paul Johnson, has endorsed Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. […] He said he is confident that the majority of Mississippians "Have no desire to get under Lyndon Johnson's big tent and to share the company already assembled there." 1964 September 9, “Goldwater endorsed in Mississippi”, in Graham M. Dean, editor, Porterville Evening Recorder, number 395, Porterville, Calif.: Graham M. Dean, →OCLC, page 1:
   • The newcomers often bring an array of ancillary problems to meetings, including emotional trauma and addiction to other drugs. As the organization metamorphoses, its supporters wonder whether A.A. [Alcoholics Anonymous] can or should be such a big tent. 1995 July 10, Elizabeth Gleick [et al.], “Sobering Times for A.A.”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Oct 2010:

Forms

Deriveds

big tentism

Relateds

catholic · ecumenism

Synonyms

broad church · catch-all

Translations (3)

fr attrape-tout (group, philosophy, or social or political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of constituents or members, or views) · fi yleispuolue (group, philosophy, or social or political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of constituents or members, or views) · fi kansanpuolue (group, philosophy, or social or political movement that encompasses or seeks to attract a broad range of constituents or members, or views)