Synonyms for little
- adjective
- noun
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Small — small, not large, limited, particularly
small, slight, wee UK NZ IE, insignificant, tiny, petty, puny, teeny informal, slender, minute, mean, low, pint-sized informal, dinky, narrow, paltry, inconsiderable, selfish, itty-bitty, scanty, miniature, diminutive
2. Unimportant
unimportant, trivial, piddling, picayune informal US, niggling, fiddling, lilliputian, footling, piffling informal rare
Other
Noun
Definitions
- adj. 1
Small, not large, limited, particularly
- adj. 2
Small, not large, limited Small, limited in size.
- n. 1
A small amount.
Many littles make a mickle.
Related words
Forms
- Plural
- littles → handfuls, trifles, modicums…
Example sentences
- small However small it may be, I want a house of my own.
- tiny Her handwriting was so tiny it was barely legible.
- petty Sami started getting into trouble for petty theft.
- insignificant There is no such thing as an insignificant detail.
- trivial The conclusion may seem trivial: Esperanto exists.
- unimportant This detail is unimportant. You can safely omit it.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| little | rising | |
| small | steady | |
| tiny | rising | |
| petty | steady | |
| insignificant | falling | |
| trivial | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- low1, wee1
- 4 letters
- mean1, tiny2, puny2
- 5 letters
- small1, short1, petty2, teeny2, dinky2
- 6 letters
- minute2, narrow2, slight1, paltry2, trifle2, scanty2
- 7 letters
- selfish2, handful2, trivial3, slender2, modicum3
- 8 letters
- fiddling2, picayune3, niggling, piddling3, footling, piffling
- 9 letters
- miniature4
- 10 letters
- diminutive4
- 11 letters
- unimportant4, lilliputian4
- 13 letters
- insignificant5
- 14 letters
- inconsiderable
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (tiny2 = 2 syllables).