few
Americanadjective
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fewer,
comparative
-
fewest
superlative
noun
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(used with a plural verb) a small number or amount.
Send me a few.
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the few, a special, limited number; the minority.
That music appeals to the few.
pronoun
idioms
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quite a few, a fairly large number; many.
There were quite a few interesting things to do.
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few and far between, at widely separated intervals; infrequent.
In Nevada the towns are few and far between.
determiner
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a small number of; hardly any
few men are so cruel
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( as pronoun; functioning as plural )
many are called but few are chosen
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(preceded by a)
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a small number of
a few drinks
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( as pronoun; functioning as plural )
a few of you
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informal several
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at great intervals; widely spaced
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not abundant; scarce
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to consume several ( or too many) alcoholic drinks
-
informal several
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
PHAs are also among the relatively few naturally occurring plastics that are completely biodegradable.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
Politico reported that officials said Burnham communicated with the person claiming to be Susie Wiles "before becoming suspicious that the contact was illegitimate" and claimed only a "few messages" were exchanged.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The affected areas have few, if any, high-rise buildings.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
While I was visiting Cindy a few days later, a young cardinal alighted at the feeder and met our gaze.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
“Well then, that’s what we’ll march for a few years from now. Do you want a Coke or something?” he asks.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Wendy’s, which had held the No. 2 spot by sales since 2020, isn’t far behind Burger King in total U.S. sales, despite having hundreds of fewer locations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Meanwhile, Dunkley has had an exceptional season with the bat, finishing third in the run-scoring charts with one fewer innings compared to Sutherland and Litchfield above her.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The EIA showed a surprise — and major — build in U.S. commercial inventories of oil, thanks to fewer crude exports and a jump in imports, mostly from Venezuela.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
When the fossils were originally found, scientists had far fewer mosasaur specimens available for comparison, making it difficult to determine exactly what kind of mosasaur the bones represented.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
But while the calls are fewer they can sometimes be sadder, odder, less routine.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Hiring picked up in first half of 2026, but last year saw the fewest new jobs created in any year in which the economy was not in recession.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
This compares to 704 the previous year and was the fewest since at least 2021.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
The Bruins are coming off a season in which they won just three games, their fewest in more than 54 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
They scour dealerships for models with the fewest bells and whistles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Light trips over pebbles, rocks, dirt...searches for the fewest weeds, fallen branches, and twigs...searches for where brush has been worn away.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
