1
as in little
of a size that is less than average
a small cat who never weighed more than five pounds
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in off
small in degree
your chances of winning the lottery are so small that it's best not to count on it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in minor
lacking importance
reluctant to bring such a small matter to the boss's attention
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in petty
not broad or open in views or opinions
townspeople who were helpful to one another but who also could be small and intolerant
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Try This Instead
Try This InsteadFor
Try This
a small amount
small changes
small pieces
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of small
He’s created a carpet to give the impression of grass, and added a small garden to accommodate the comfort of canine companions onboard.
—
Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 25 May 2025
Though compact, the main room is large enough to use as a general seating area, an office, or a workshop, while the smaller sectioned room can be utilized as a storage space, a small bathroom, or even a cozy sleeping nook—but that’s not all.
—Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 25 May 2025
But as gleaned at Trent Bridge amid the color and emotion emanating from the terraces, Test cricket needs smaller nations to flourish and emerge beyond India, England and Australia.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
In addition to being the spiritual leader for what the church says is roughly 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, Leo is also the head of what’s recognized as the world’s smallest nation.
—Russ Bynum, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for small
Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 25 May 2025
Though compact, the main room is large enough to use as a general seating area, an office, or a workshop, while the smaller sectioned room can be utilized as a storage space, a small bathroom, or even a cozy sleeping nook—but that’s not all.
—Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 25 May 2025
But as gleaned at Trent Bridge amid the color and emotion emanating from the terraces, Test cricket needs smaller nations to flourish and emerge beyond India, England and Australia.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
In addition to being the spiritual leader for what the church says is roughly 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, Leo is also the head of what’s recognized as the world’s smallest nation.
—Russ Bynum, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for small
Recent Examples of Synonyms for small
Adjective
-
The musical features a scene about little Sarah making her joke about Jeffrey’s death and no one laughing.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
18 May 2025
-
When Carter was little, his mother always included him in her life, as Anderson told PEOPLE in 2016.—
Julie Tremaine,
People.com,
18 May 2025
Adjective
-
But the Lions scored three times in the top of the third off USD starter Cal Scolari.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 May 2025
-
As the Cubs, winners in seven of their last nine, head into an off day Thursday, here are three takeaways from their second straight series victory.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2025
Adjective
-
Ambulances took 27 people to the hospital, including two with serious injuries, and another 20 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, said Dave Kitchin of North West Ambulance Service.—
Brian Melley,
Chicago Tribune,
27 May 2025
-
In total, 27 people were taken to the hospital, including two with serious injuries, and 20 others were treated at the scene for minor injuries, according to Dave Kitchin of North West Ambulance Service.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
27 May 2025
Adjective
-
As a result, defendants in Colorado’s municipal courts can face much longer sentences than those in state court for the same petty offenses, The Denver Post previously found.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
16 May 2025
-
Each encounter brings four options for how to beat that opponent, a prime opportunity to make petty jokes.—
Jayna Bardahl,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
Adjective
-
Their double act had begun at secondary school, in North London, where Mulcahy protected the diminutive Duffy from bullies.—
Sarah Beckwith,
New Yorker,
26 May 2025
-
With that hardware, the diminutive DGX Spark will produce 1,000 trillion operations per second (TOPS) when working on AI tasks, vastly outperforming consumer AI PCs' 40-50 TOPS.—
Brian Westover,
PC Magazine,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
German filmmaker Petzold comes to Cannes for the first time with a minor-key new drama, which burrows into the psyche despite its slim running time and almost perverse refusal to explain itself or the shapes its narrative takes.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
17 May 2025
-
Republicans hold a slim majority in both the House and Senate and are eager to pick up more seats in midterm elections, with Trump's help.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 May 2025
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, a DeepMind researcher discussed adversarial machine learning, a phenomenon where slight manipulations to input data can drastically alter an AI’s output.—
Korok Ray,
Forbes.com,
19 May 2025
-
However, at some point while walking the red carpet on Saturday, May 17, the two got mixed up in slight blunder when the Twilight star, 39, ended up standing on top of his costar's elegant Dior gown that, according to Vogue, took 250 hours to create.—
Michelle Lee,
People.com,
19 May 2025
Adjective
-
It could not be fenced off and become a parochial one now.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Investors might want to be less parochial just as political policy becomes increasingly so.—
Ron Insana,
CNBC,
7 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Small.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/small. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share