A Great Barbet is green, with a dark blue-green head, a dark greenish-brown mantle, red under-tail coverts, and a dark brown breast. The lower breast and belly are streaked yellowish.

Its has a long, whitish bill, with a yellowish base and a dark stripe on the tip of the upper mandible, and with several black protruding hairs between the bill and the forehead, typical with barbets.