small-bore

American  

[smawl-bawr, -bohr] / ˈsmɔlˌbɔr, -ˌboʊr /

adjective

1. of, noting, or relating to a .22-caliber firearm.

2. insular or parochial in scope, attitude, etc..

   small-bore officials.

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small-bore British  

adjective

1. (of a firearm) having a small bore, especially one of less than .22 calibre

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Etymology

Origin of small-bore

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Set years before the movies we know and love, the show goes small-bore on spycraft, marital diplomacy and the all-too-real cost of rebellion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025

Critics often derided O’Connor for what seemed to be a small-bore, mincing, and case-by-case approach to constitutional doctrine.

From Slate • Dec. 1, 2023

Many of the squad’s cases have turned out to be decidedly small-bore affairs.

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2022

In a small-bore yet prophetic detail, Continetti notes that conservative writer Whittaker Chambers refused to blurb Buckley’s 1954 book, “McCarthy and His Enemies,” warning him that the right was moving “away from reality.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2022

Any system that constricts teachers—holds them to small-bore metrics, punishes them for forces outside their control, discourages their creativity and spontaneity, chips away at their humanity—is a bad system.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove