few

American  

[fyoo] / fyu /

adjective

fewer, fewest

1. not many but more than one.

   Few artists live luxuriously.

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noun

1. (used with a plural verb) a small number or amount.

   Send me a few.

2. the few, a special, limited number; the minority.

   That music appeals to the few.

pronoun

1. (used with a plural verb) a small number of persons or things.

   A dozen people volunteered, but few have shown up.

idioms

1. quite a few, a fairly large number; many.

   There were quite a few interesting things to do.

2. few and far between, at widely separated intervals; infrequent.

   In Nevada the towns are few and far between.

few British  

/ fjuː /

determiner

1. 1. a small number of; hardly any

      few men are so cruel

   2. ( as pronoun; functioning as plural )

      many are called but few are chosen

2. (preceded by a)

   1. a small number of

      a few drinks

   2. ( as pronoun; functioning as plural )

      a few of you

3. informal several

4. 1. at great intervals; widely spaced

   2. not abundant; scarce

5. to consume several ( or too many) alcoholic drinks

6. informal several

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noun

1. a small number of people considered as a class Compare many

   the few who fell at Thermopylae

few More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing few

• a few
• bricks shy of a load, (a few)
• of few words
• precious few
• quite a bit (few)

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Other Word Forms

• fewness noun
• overfew adjective

Etymology

Origin of few

First recorded before 900; Middle English fewe, Old English fēawe; cognate with Gothic fawai; akin to Latin paucus “few,” paulus “little,” pauper “poor,” Greek paûros “little, few”

Explanation

Few is a word for a small, non-specific number. A few is somewhere between a couple and a whole bunch. When you say you're going to have a few fries, you'd better not eat the whole order — a few is a tiny number. It takes more than a few people to play basketball, though they could probably play two-on-two. This is one of many words for amounts that aren't specific, like a bunch, a load, or a bit. If someone refers to the few, they're talking about an elite, special group, like "The few. The proud. The Marines."

Example Sentences

“The work of defending the world’s cyber infrastructure might take years; frontier AI capabilities are likely to advance substantially over just the next few months,” Anthropic wrote in its Project Glasswing announcement.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026

We look at a few that actually live up to the name.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

I also heard from Stefanie Keenan, who had a clever idea a few years ago, born of exasperation with City Hall.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

It's not until the past few weeks that the vetting decision seems to have been uncovered.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

We take selfies together; both of us smile big, like if we smile big enough, it’ll wipe away all the bad, even if it’s only for a few blissful hours.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• several
• some