tiny
Americanadjective
-
tinier,
comparative
-
tiniest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of tiny
First recorded in 1590–1600; late Middle English tine “very small” + -y 1; further origin uncertain
Explanation
Tiny means very small. Atoms are tiny. Hawaii is tiny, in comparison to the continental US. If you wear a size five shoe as an adult, you could be said to have tiny feet. Throughout the world there are stories about tiny mythical heroes, such as Tom Thumb, a tiny baby, who grew into a tiny child then a man so tiny he was no larger than an average man's thumb. One of the things that people love about doll houses are seeing all the artifacts we live with day to day replicated in miniature, or tiny, form.
Vocabulary lists containing tiny
It's the Little Things: Synonyms for "Small"
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"Eleven," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Imperfect Me"
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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:
“You might pull in a tiny fish or you might pull in a whale.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
And if household robots ever become commonplace, perhaps a tiny bit of their intelligence could be traced back to their time in my apartment.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
These often measure text similarity or overlap, but they don’t heavily penalize the tiny errors that should fail in a health setting.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
These tiny probes can detect activity from many nerve cells simultaneously, providing a detailed picture of how groups of neurons respond to information.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
The skirt of my dress itches my thighs, and I run my sweaty palms over the scratchy tulle, focusing on the tiny nets in the fabric.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
These ultrathin materials, made from just one or a few atomic layers, have been viewed as promising candidates for building even tinier electronic devices.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2026
A group of even tinier microcaps outperformed the S&P 100, made up of the largest companies, by almost 12 percentage points.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026
“Institutional investors are a tiny share of the market, and a tinier share of the total U.S. housing market. There is not good enough evidence that institutional investors drive up home prices,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026
But I think it’s Trello, a much tinier service, that tells the most concise story of how technology companies are now looking at their users.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2025
The silver trumpet, the cockeyed teddy bear with his red and white scarf, the tiny sled packed with tinier toys.
From "Orbiting Jupiter" by Gary D. Schmidt
From Abidjan to Dakar and Abuja, mechanics, scrap dealers, motorcycle taxi drivers and street vendors make the most of the tiniest corner to set up their business activity.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
The Chase Sapphire lounge is among the tiniest in the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
"Keep offering it and they will pick it up and try it. We try to make everyone try everything in our house, even the tiniest bit."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Lacunar stroke develops when the brain's tiniest blood vessels are damaged by a condition known as small vessel disease.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 3, 2026
Then he moved his tail the tiniest bit, and Anya released a held breath of relief.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
