few

1 of 3

pronoun

ˈfyü 

plural in construction

: not many persons or things

few were present

few of his stories are true

few

2 of 3

adjective

1

: consisting of or amounting to only a small number

one of our few pleasures

2

: at least some but indeterminately small in number

—used with a

caught a few fish

fewness noun

few

3 of 3

noun

plural in construction

1

: a small number of units or individuals

a few of them

2

: a special limited number

the discriminating few

Phrases

few and far between

: few in number and infrequently met : rare

Synonyms

Noun

• couple
• handful
• scatter
• scattering
• smatter
• smattering
• sprinkle
• sprinkling

Examples of few in a Sentence

Adjective

He caught fewer fish than the rest of us.

There are fewer children at the school this year.

Not many people came, but the few people who did enjoyed themselves.

Noun

a few of the songs on the album are good, but most are forgettable

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Its nearly $900 million restoration, largely paid for by donations from a few Paris billionaires and some 340,000 other donors, many of them Americans, is just the latest example. —Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 6 Dec. 2024

These two new studies have shown us how a few genes and the addition of that single oxygen atom can change the course of evolution, creating a new form that looks so dramatically different. —Simon Griffith, JSTOR Daily, 5 Dec. 2024

Noun

Journalists were once a proud few who fought back against tyranny and the lies that governments told. —Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2024

The combo pairs late-season heli-skiing with fishing for king salmon, an impressive Alaska double few can claim to have pulled off. —Mike Campbell, Anchorage Daily News, 28 May 2020

Word History

Etymology

Pronoun and Adjective

Middle English fewe, pronoun & adjective, from Old English fēawa; akin to Old High German fō little, Latin paucus little, pauper poor, Greek paid-, pais child, Sanskrit putra son

First Known Use

Pronoun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing few

• a few bob
• a good few
• as few as
• few if any
• have a few
• have a few minutes/moments
• have a few too many
• keeps a few tricks up his sleeve
• man/woman of few words
• of few words
• quite a few
• say a few words
• the/a chosen few

Kids Definition

few

1 of 3 pronoun

ˈfyü 

: not many persons or things

—used in plural

few were present

few

2 of 3 adjective

1

: amounting to only a small number

one of the few sports I play

2

: not many but some

caught a few fish

fewness noun

few

3 of 3 noun

1

: a small number of units or individuals

a few of them

2

: a special limited number

the select few