In Jonathan Swift's satirical novel, Gulliver's Travels, the land of Brobdingnag was occupied by very large people. Gulliver comes to the island once again through shipwreck, but in contrast with this experiences at Lilliput and Blefuscu he is treated well by the inhabitants.

The adjective Brobdingnagian has come to describe anything coarse and unwieldy because of its very large size. Compare Colossus, Juggernaut.