midget

American  

[mij-it] / ˈmɪdʒ ɪt /

noun

midgets plural

1. Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive. an abnormally small person having normal physical proportions.

2. any animal or thing that is very small for its kind.

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adjective

1. very small or of a class below the usual size.

2. being a miniature replica or model.

midget British  

/ ˈmɪdʒɪt /

noun

1. a dwarf whose skeleton and features are of normal proportions

2. 1. something small of its kind

   2. ( as modifier )

      a midget car

3. an age level of 16 to 17 in amateur sport, esp ice hockey

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Sensitive Note

A dwarf is someone with a medical condition that results in stunted growth (58 inches or shorter in height), with a physical form that is disproportionate or not normally developed in some way. The word midget is not a synonym; it is disparaging and offensive and should be avoided. It was formerly used for someone of proportionate form but abnormally small physical stature. The terms dwarf and little person are now preferable in reference to these short-statured people.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• midgetism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• midgets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of midget

First recorded in 1850–55; midge + -et

Explanation

Midget is an offensive term for someone who is much smaller than average. While it's acceptable today to describe an inanimate object with the adjective midget, it's never okay to use the word for a person. Long ago, people felt free to describe little people as midgets — for example, the actors who played the Munchkins in the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz" were routinely described as midgets. Today we'd avoid describing these actors by their physical characteristics, but if we did they'd be called "little people," "dwarfs," "LP," or even "people of short stature." Save midget for midget crabapples or midget submarines.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

midget midgets

These cell types make up only 2% to 4% of all ganglion cells in mice, whereas 90% of retinal ganglion cells are midget cells in humans.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 13, 2023

The two were once dirt midget teammates at Keith Kunz Motorsports, where Bell seemed to consistently beat Larson in equal equipment, and the relationship hasn’t always been warm.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

Its has about 70 submarines, including Romeo-class vessels of Soviet-era design, and midget submarines.

From Reuters ● Sep. 8, 2023

“P.T. Barnum turned midget into a word to describe a human,” said Aubrey Smalls, an actor and filmmaker with dwarfism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2023

At noon she would rush home and fix Chester some delicacy for lunch, like a midget fruit salad or an entire vegetable dinner so small you could serve it on a silver dollar.

From "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden

He’s won in sprint cars, midgets and trucks, won on a variety of surfaces and rarely seems to take days off.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 14, 2023

Jeff Gordon was trading paint in quarter midgets in Northern California 11 years before he was old enough to have a driver’s license.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2023

“I’ve been a race fan all my life,” said Newman, an Indiana native who started racing quarter midgets when he was 4.

From Washington Post ● May 14, 2020

Racing go carts, mini-sprinters, and outlaw midgets with his older sister, Erin, from age 8, he learned how to keep those vehicles running with help from his father, Gary.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 8, 2017

And the massive round fruit towered over them so high that they looked like midgets from another world beside it.

From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl