Diminutive

/dɪˈmɪn.jə.tɪv/ · adjective

Meaning

Very small..

Definitions by Sense

1. Very small.
2. (obsolete) Serving to diminish.
3. (grammar) Of or pertaining to, or creating a word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.
4. (grammar) A word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.
5. (heraldry) The smallest, thinnest version of a traditional heraldic ordinary ("geometric shape on a shield"), often used to represent multiple instances of a charge or to modify a main, central, and larger charge; not itself modifiable.

Example Sentences

Mrs. Washington ("Oh, la, call me Martha, Boys") is a diminutive woman with a cheerful rather than happy air, who seems to bustle even when standing still..

Roman Sharonov rose unchallenged to head a corner wide, while diminutive winger Gokdeniz Karadeniz ghosted in with a diving header from the edge of the six-yard box that was acrobatically kept out by Gomes.

1711, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, 1714 edition republished by Gregg International Publishers, 1968, Volume 3, Miscellany 3, Chapter 2, p. 175, They cou’d, perhaps, even embrace POVERTY contentedly, rather than submit to any thing diminutive either of their inward Freedom or national Liberty.

Booklet, the diminutive of book, means ‘small book’.

But I was frightfully fond of the universe and wanted to address it by a diminutive. I often did so; and it never seemed to mind.

When we come to occupative names, we are again confronted by crowds of diminutives.

The British use the term “fidlets”, a diminutive of “Fid”, which in turn is an acronym for Falkland Island Dependencies, the former name of the British Antarctic Survey.

Synonyms for diminutive

Antonyms for diminutive

Related Words

Word Forms

• more diminutive
• most diminutive
• dim.
• diminutives

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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