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• Pygmy
  Pygmy

  noun
• pygmy
  pygmy

  noun

  an abnormally undersized person

Pygmy

American  

[pig-mee] / ˈpɪg mi /

Or Pigmy

noun

Pygmies plural

1. Anthropology.

   1. a member of a small-statured people native to equatorial Africa.

   2. a Negrito of southeastern Asia, or of the Andaman or Philippine islands.

2. Disparaging and Offensive. pygmy, a small or dwarfish person.

3. pygmy, anything very small of its kind.

4. pygmy, a person who is of small importance, or who has some quality, attribute, etc., in very small measure.

5. Classical Mythology. (in theIliad ) one of a race of dwarfs who fought battles with cranes, who preyed on them and destroyed their fields.

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adjective

1. Often pygmy of or relating to the Pygmies.

2. pygmy, of very small size, capacity, power, etc.

pygmy ¹ British  

/ ˈpɪɡmɪ, pɪɡˈmiːən /

noun

1. an abnormally undersized person

2. something that is a very small example of its type

3. a person of little importance or significance

4. (modifier) of very small stature or size

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Pygmy ² British  

/ ˈpɪɡmɪ /

noun

1. a member of one of the dwarf peoples of Equatorial Africa, noted for their hunting and forest culture

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Pygmy Cultural  

1. A member of any ethnic group in which the average height of the adult male is less than four feet, eleven inches. There are Pygmy tribes in dense rain-forest areas of central Africa, southern India, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The most widely studied Pygmies are the Mbuti of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, who pursue a nomadic hunting and gathering subsistence (see nomadism and hunting and gathering societies), but have established complex interdependent relationships with their non-Pygmy farming neighbors.

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Other Word Forms

• pygmaean
  adjective
• pygmoid
  adjective
• pygmyish
  adjective
• pygmyism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Pygmy

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English pigmēis, plural of pigmē, from Latin Pygmaeus, from Greek pygmaîos “dwarfish” (adjective), Pygmy (noun), equivalent to pyg(mḗ) ) “distance from elbow to knuckles” + -aios adjective suffix

Explanation

A member of an ethnic group whose people tend to be very short or small is a pygmy. Anthropologists sometimes study pygmy groups. The term pygmy, while still used by many who study and write about world cultures and groups, is somewhat old-fashioned and can be offensive to members of these cultures. Anthropologists often refer to groups in which men are on average shorter than four feet eleven inches tall as pygmies, though for the most part these people prefer to be known by their ethnicity. Pygmy comes from the Greek word pugmaios, or "dwarf."

Example Sentences

Pygmy hippos are much smaller than their river cousins and critically endangered, with fewer than 2,500 believed to remain in the wild.

From Salon • Jul. 13, 2025

Pygmy hippos can be housed and supported at a much lower cost.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2024

Pygmy hippos, which are endangered, usually live between 30-50 years.

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2023

Hannan's Pygmy Squid, Kodama jujutsu, is a newly discovered species within a whole new genus.

From Science Daily • Oct. 24, 2023

“Mum, can I have a Pygmy Puff?” said Ginny at once.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling