little
Americanadjective
-
littler,
comparative
-
less,
comparative
-
lesser,
comparative
-
littlest,
superlative
-
least
superlative
-
small in size; not big; not large; tiny.
a little desk in the corner of the room.
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short in duration; not extensive; short; brief.
a little while.
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small in number.
a little group of scientists.
-
small in amount or degree; not much.
little hope.
-
of a certain amount; appreciable (usually preceded bya ).
We're having a little difficulty.
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being such on a small scale.
little farmers.
-
younger or youngest.
He's my little brother.
-
not strong, forceful, or loud; weak.
a little voice.
-
small in consideration, importance, position, affluence, etc..
little discomforts;
tax reductions to help the little fellow.
-
mean, narrow, or illiberal.
a little mind.
-
endearingly small or considered as such.
Bless your little heart!
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amusingly small or so considered.
a funny little way of laughing.
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contemptibly small, petty, mean, etc., or so considered.
filthy little political tricks.
adverb
noun
-
a small amount, quantity, or degree.
They did little to make him comfortable.
If you want some ice cream, there's a little in the refrigerator.
-
a short distance.
It's down the road a little.
-
a short time.
Stay here for a little.
idioms
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think little of, to treat casually; regard as trivial.
They think little of driving 50 miles to see a movie.
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little by little, by small degrees; gradually.
The water level rose little by little.
-
make little of,
-
to belittle.
to make little of one's troubles.
-
to understand or interpret only slightly.
Scholars made little of the newly discovered text.
-
-
in little, on a small scale; in miniature.
a replica in little of Independence Hall.
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not a little, to a great extent; very much; considerably.
It tired me not a little to stand for three hours.
determiner
-
(often preceded by a)
-
a small quantity, extent, or duration of
the little hope there is left
very little milk
-
( as pronoun )
save a little for me
-
-
not much
little damage was done
-
See make of
-
-
very
-
a lot
-
-
a considerable amount
-
to have a low opinion of
adjective
-
of small or less than average size
-
young
a little boy
our little ones
-
endearingly familiar; dear
my husband's little ways
-
contemptible, mean, or disagreeable
your filthy little mind
-
(of a region or district) resembling another country or town in miniature
little Venice
-
a person's secret intention or business
so that's his little game!
-
considerable
adverb
-
(usually preceded by a) in a small amount; to a small extent or degree; not a lot
to laugh a little
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(used preceding a verb) not at all, or hardly
he little realized his fate
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not much or often
we go there very little now
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by small degrees
Usage
What is a basic definition of little? Little describes something that is small in size. Little also describes a short time. And little can refer to a small amount of something. Little has many other senses as an adjective, adverb, and noun. If something is little, it is tiny or physically small. Little is the opposite of words like big, huge, and gigantic. The noun form of this sense is littleness. Real-life examples: Newborn babies are little. A single grain of sand is little. A dime is a little coin compared to quarters and nickels. Used in a sentence: I found a little piece of paper tucked inside the small book. Little also describes a short amount of time. This sense is commonly used as “a little while” or “a little bit.” This sense is a synonym of words like brief or short. Real-life examples: A five-minute rest is a little break. You might go away for a weekend and call it a little vacation. You might stay at a friend’s house for a little while before saying goodbye. And 367 days is a little over a year. Used in a sentence: We stopped at the gas station for a little bit to fill up the car before continuing our trip. Little can also describe a small amount of something. Real-life examples: A chef might add a little salt to a recipe. There might be a little rain on a cloudy day. A new chess player usually has little chance of beating a professional. Used in a sentence: She added to the romantic atmosphere by playing a little music. Little is also used in this sense as a noun. Used in a sentence: If you are looking for paint, there is a little in the supply closet.
Synonym Usage
Little, diminutive, minute, small refer to that which is not large or significant. Little (the opposite of big ) is very general, covering size, extent, number, quantity, amount, duration, or degree: a little boy; a little time. Small (the opposite of large and of great ) can many times be used interchangeably with little, but is especially applied to what is limited or below the average in size: small oranges. Diminutive denotes (usually physical) size that is much less than the average or ordinary; it may suggest delicacy: the baby's diminutive fingers; diminutive in size but autocratic in manner. Minute suggests that which is so tiny it is difficult to discern, or that which implies attentiveness to the smallest details: a minute quantity; a minute exam.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of little
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English lȳtel ( lȳt “few, small” + -el diminutive suffix), cognate with Dutch luttel, Old High German luzzil, Old Norse lītill
Explanation
Anything small, brief, young, or unimportant can be described as little. If you live in a little cottage, it means your house is very small, and quite possibly adorable. The word little describes something tiny and sweet, like a little kitten or a little doll house rocking chair. Little can also mean some, but not much, like when you only want a little soup — not a big bowl, or when you put little effort into your appearance when you are doing yard work. The expression little by little means very slowly, or by tiny increments, like learning a new language little by little.
Vocabulary lists containing little
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:
Markets will move up and down, your dreams might shift a little bit more to the west or the east, and unexpected situations might arise.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
They get their little books, and to them, it’s personal.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Steve Dudeney, director of fire safety consultancy Ignis Fire and Resilience Ltd, and a former London Fire Brigade commander, said there had been "lots of talking and very little doing".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
That combination suggested investors thought the Fed might accept a little more inflation now at the risk of having to raise rates later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Grandma said, “What you doing with that? I just cleaned up the floor this morning, little girl.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
But with the median sale price in the area at more than $1.5 million, the decision to buy a home has become less clear-cut.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Warsh has built his chairmanship around communicating less, arguing that central bankers talk too much and issue forecasts that harden into commitments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
And in less than two years after that, he became a paid regular at the club.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
For India, however, sugar availability could improve next year if high prices prompt mills to divert less cane to ethanol.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
By now I was desperate for food but less able to walk than ever.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
But the kind of attention even her lesser work with Wagoner enjoyed continued to elude her own material.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Millennials and Gen Xers also exhibited the same behaviors to a much lesser extent.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Berton, the national disaster agency spokesman, said at least 914 houses on the island were severely damaged and hundreds of others to a lesser degree.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
The revenue growth was driven by new restaurant openings and, to a lesser extent, comparable restaurant sales, the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
‘Yea,’ he said; ‘for though the Stones be lost, they say, still the lords of Gondor have keener sight than lesser men, and many messages come to them. But sit now!’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"You wouldn't think there were that many places to hide but when Ramona was littler, I think she'd been in every cupboard in one of those trailers," says Drew-Honey, now 28.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024
The new paper adds an additional seven dark comets to the list, including bigger ones that inhabit the outer solar system and littler ones that remain in the inner solar system.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2024
No surprise there—as the term accelerates toward a contentious finale, the tensions roiling major cases are bound to spill over into littler ones.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2024
The Pac-12 has been the runt of the Power Five littler for years now, which helped spur its dissolution.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
Once, when she was littler, Sansa had even asked Mother if perhaps there hadn't been some mistake.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
“Each paycheck, at least half of it went to rent,” Linden, 32, told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Those who spent the following weeks trying to understand the crisis focused in part on Aschenbrenner’s role, concluding that he had been in contact with at least one director who voted to fire Altman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
At least four civilians and three firefighters have been injured in connection with the fire, Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Chief Richard Edwards said at a news conference.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
At least 11 people were killed in another shopping mall fire in Karachi in 2023.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
There are at least a dozen ways she is different this summer compared to previous visits.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The scarcity of Apple’s littlest Mac comes at a time of high interest from AI power users and a potential product refresh.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
"He always has time to chat with every little one and has the ability to charm even the littlest of children who may be a little shy of a big man in a red suit."
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2024
Caiazzo was part of a research team that in 2021 reported on one with a petite diameter slightly larger than Earth's moon that boasted the greatest mass and littlest size of any known white dwarf.
From Reuters ● Jul. 21, 2023
Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a big plan for some of California’s littlest children.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2023
Next time I pass, I Manuel Flores, truster of nobody, most of all not strangers, I lift my hand in the littlest wave, like a tiny small flag.
From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
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.
