Lilliputian
Americanadjective
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extremely small; tiny; diminutive.
-
petty; trivial.
Our worries are Lilliputian when compared with those of people whose nations are at war.
noun
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an inhabitant of Lilliput.
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a very small person.
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a person who is narrow or petty in outlook.
noun
adjective
-
tiny; very small
-
petty or trivial
Etymology
Origin of Lilliputian
Explanation
Something that's lilliputian is extremely small, like the lilliputian tables and chairs that might surprise you when you visit your kindergarten classroom years later. The word lilliputian comes from Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel, Gulliver's Travels. Lilliput is the name of a fictional island whose people, the Lilliputians, stand only about six inches high. In addition to acting as an adjective to describe something that is very small — like the lilliputian cups and plates in a child's doll house — lilliputian can also be a noun that refers to extremely small people.
Vocabulary lists containing lilliputian
100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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It's the Little Things: Synonyms for "Small"
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My Sister's Keeper
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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.
Nearby are additional puzzling landscapes in which other Lilliputian figures, at times the scale of insects, feel overwhelmed by outsize vegetation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 15, 2025
The visual goal, she reminded us: “It’s about being in Lilliputian land — about making your trough believable, a miniature landscape.”
From Seattle Times • Aug. 9, 2023
Set largely in and around a house nestled in the woods, Sciamma’s Lilliputian tour de force is a wittily modern fairy tale and model of elegant narrative economy.
From New York Times • Dec. 6, 2022
It’s why Lue favored Lilliputian lineups instead of playing backup center Isaiah Hartenstein, even though they didn’t even have a true backup power forward with Batum out.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2021
Billingsley, despite a noble effort, looked like a Lilliputian trying to block defensive ends and line-backers who were seven inches taller and forty pounds heavier.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
