little man

noun

(sometimes initial capital letters)

1. the common or ordinary person.

2. Informal.,  the small, ordinary investor, as opposed to big investment institutions.

little man

noun

1. a man of no importance or significance

2. a tradesman or artisan operating on a small scale

Word History and Origins

Origin of little man¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Anas Sarwar also criticised the "gutter politics and bile" of Reform, describing its leader Nigel Farage as a "poisonous little man" who knows nothing about Scotland.

Read more on BBC

"Whereas you are a pathetic and poisonous little man that doesn't care about Scotland, doesn't understand Scotland, and that's why Scotland will utterly reject you."

Read more on BBC

“You’ve always been a man — a mean, angry little man who decided to hate everybody. Just like your daddy.”

Read more on Salon

To him, the legendarily bigoted Alabama Gov. George Wallace is an angry little man standing in the way of some people, not a national politician Wallace symbolically trying to block the integration of the University of Alabama in 1963.

Read more on Salon

Boggs discovered him when he came across an out-of-print children’s book called “Little Man, Little Man,” a collaboration between Cazac and Baldwin that prompted Boggs’ search.

Read more on Los Angeles Times