small time
noun
a circuit of minor theaters giving three or more shows daily.
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small time
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small-time
small-timeadjectiveof modest or insignificant size, importance, or influence.
small time
1 Americannoun
small-time
2
American
[smawl-tahym]
/ ˈsmɔlˈtaɪm /
adjective
small-time
British
adjective
small time
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of small time1
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25
Origin of small-time2
First recorded in 1910–15
Vocabulary lists containing small-time
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:
The challenge is tied to the interval between computational steps: to capture rapid events such as supernova evolution, the simulation must advance in very small time increments.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 16, 2025
In the local vernacular, it has all been a bit small time.
From BBC ● May 29, 2024
Ah, but back to the small time, the part time, the pure of heart, the candidates without fundraising consultants.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2023
“As time passed, we realized that when we had that small time to rest, you get a lot of positivity from taking that risk,” Jongyeon said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2023
But it isn’t silly, this preoccupation with small time units.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
It was small-time stuff until after the Civil War, when the railroads reached south and the fruit sold north.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
With a love triangle between two living parties and a dead guy, custody disagreements and a few other small-time secrets, Hoover has essentially perfected the recipe for the modern melodrama.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2026
If Atkins is successful in widening access to private companies, it won’t mean that small-time investors will be invited into the inner circle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2025
Currency trading by small-time investors in Japan is more popular than it is in the U.S., experts said.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 5, 2025
The preceding execution had not disturbed him, he had never had much use for Hickock, who seemed to him “a small-time chis- eler who got out of his depth, empty and worthless.”
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
