little
(noun, adjective, adverb, determiner)
adjective
1. limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
- a little dining room
- a little house
- a little (or small) group
Similar word(s): atomic, subatomic, bantam, diminutive, flyspeck, lilliputian, midget, petite, tiny, bittie, bitty, teensy, teentsy, teeny, wee, weensy, weeny, dinky, insignificant, dwarfish, elfin, elflike, gnomish, infinitesimal, minute, lesser, microscopic, microscopical, micro, miniature, miniscule, minuscule, pocketable, puny, runty, shrimpy, slender, slim, littler, smaller, smallish, undersize, undersized, small
2. (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with `a') at least some
- little rain fell in May
- gave it little thought
- little time is left
Similar word(s): small, less, slight
3. (of children and animals) young, immature
- what a big little boy you are
Similar word(s): immature, young, small
4. (informal) small and of little importance
- a little (or small) matter
Similar word(s): unimportant, fiddling, footling, lilliputian, niggling, petty, picayune, piddling, piffling, trivial
5. (of a voice) faint
- a little voice
6. low in stature; not tall
- a little man
Similar word(s): low, chunky, dumpy, squat, squatty, stumpy, compact, heavyset, stocky, thick, thickset, runty, squab, squabby, short
7. lowercase
- little a
Similar word(s): lowercase, minuscule, small
8. small in a way that arouses feelings (of tenderness or its opposite depending on the context)
- a nice little job
- bless your little heart
- my dear little mother
Similar word(s): emotional
Sentences with little as an adjective:
- This is a little table.
- It's of little importance.
- Did he tell you any embarrassing stories about when she was little?
- That's the biggest little boy I've ever seen.
- This is my little sister.
- little money;
- a little sleep
adverb
1. not much
- he talked little about his family
Sentences with little as an adverb:
- This is a little known fact. She spoke little and listened less.
- I was speaking ill of Fred; little did I know that he was right behind me, listening in.
determiner
1. Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).
- There is little water left.
- We had very little to do.
noun
1. a small amount or duration
- he accepted the little they gave him
Definition categories: quantity