Definition

1. Adjective (British informal):

   • Very large; enormous: Used to emphasize the great size or extent of something.
   • Remarkable or extraordinary (often in a negative sense): Can describe something as being extreme or outrageous.

2. Adverb (British informal):

   • Extremely; very: Used to intensify an adjective, meaning "to a very great degree."

3. Noun:

   • The act of hitting someone or something repeatedly and forcefully: The action of inflicting blows.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • We received a whacking phone bill this month. (This emphasizes the bill is surprisingly and unpleasantly large.)
  • That's a whacking great lie! (This describes the lie as being outrageously big or blatant.)

• Adverb:

  • He told a whacking good story. (This means the story was extremely good or entertaining.)

• Noun:

  • The old law allowed the whacking of disobedient students. (This refers to the act of corporal punishment involving repeated blows.)

Advanced Usage

• "A whacking great...": A common informal British phrase used for emphasis before a noun.
  • They've built a whacking great shopping centre on the edge of town.
• Used informally and often for humorous or emphatic effect. It is not typically used in formal writing.

Variants and Related Words

• Whack (verb/noun): To hit forcefully, or a sharp blow.
  • He gave the ball a hard whack.
• Whacker (noun, informal): Can refer to a person who whacks, or is used in British slang as a mild, humorous term for a person (e.g., "a bit of a whacker").

Synonyms

• Adjective: Enormous, huge, massive, colossal, tremendous.
• Adverb: Extremely, very, terribly, awfully, immensely.
• Noun: Beating, thrashing, battering, pounding.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Phrases

• To whack on (informal): To add a large, often excessive, amount of something (like a cost or charge).
  • The hotel whacked on a huge service charge.
• Out of whack (idiom, primarily North American): Not working properly; out of order.
  • My sleep schedule is completely out of whack.

Related Idioms

• Top whack (British informal): The maximum price or rate.
  • We had to pay top whack for tickets at the last minute.
• Have a whack at (informal): To attempt or try something.
  • I've never played golf before, but I'll have a whack at it.

Adjective

1. (British informal) enormous
   • a whacking phone bill
   • a whacking lie

Adverb

1. extremely
   • a whacking good story

Noun

1. the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows