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Synonyms for smaller
| Grammar : Adj |
| Spell : smawl |
| Phonetic Transcription : smɔl |
Définition of smaller
Origin :- Old English smæl "thin, slender, narrow; fine," from Proto-Germanic *smal- "small animal; small" (cf. Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Middle Dutch, Dutch, Old High German smal, Old Frisian smel, German schmal "narrow, slender," Gothic smalista "smallest," Old Norse smali "small cattle, sheep"), perhaps from a PIE root *(s)melo- "smaller animal" (cf. Greek melon, Old Irish mil "a small animal;" Old Church Slavonic malu "bad"). Original sense of "narrow" now almost obsolete, except in reference to waistline and intestines.
- My sister ... is as white as a lilly, and as small as a wand. [Shakespeare, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," 1591]
- Sense of "not large, of little size" developed in Old English. Of children, "young," from mid-13c. Meaning "inferior in degree or amount" is from late 13c. Meaning "trivial, unimportant" is from mid-14c. Sense of "having little property or trade" is from 1746. That of "characterized by littleness of mind or spirit, base, low, mean" is from 1824. As an adverb by late 14c.
- Small fry, first recorded 1690s of little fish, 1885 of insignificant people. Small potatoes "no great matter" first attested 1924; small change "something of little value" is from 1902; small talk "chit-chat, trifling conversation" (1751) first recorded in Chesterfield's "Letters." Small world as a comment upon an unexpected meeting of acquaintances is recorded from 1895. Small-arms, indicating those capable of being carried in the hand (contrasted to ordnance) is recorded from 1710.
- adj tinier
- Two ropes were then hauled on board the vessel, a larger and a smaller.
- Extract from : « Malbone » by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
- The former resembles the imperial palace at Schonbrun, but smaller.
- Extract from : « Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 » by Various
- Some way from it was a smaller table with a single beaker and a broken wine-bottle.
- Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
- I surrounded myself with the smaller natures and the meaner minds.
- Extract from : « De Profundis » by Oscar Wilde
- This cottage is smaller than its neighbor, and its wooden door is quite black from age.
- Extract from : « Rico and Wiseli » by Johanna Spyri
- Kingozi's attention, however, now narrowed to a smaller circle than the casual.
- Extract from : « The Leopard Woman » by Stewart Edward White
- "Come," he said, and led him toward a smaller room off the main workshop.
- Extract from : « The Monster Men » by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- He turned aside into one of the deep ravines and then into a smaller one leading from it.
- Extract from : « The Rock of Chickamauga » by Joseph A. Altsheler
- The smaller group was in marble, and I had worked at it with the greatest care.
- Extract from : « My Double Life » by Sarah Bernhardt
- The smaller coast fortresses which we passed are also all in the hands of the Abyssinians.
- Extract from : « Freeland » by Theodor Hertzka
Words or expressions associated with your search
- abysmal
- baptismal
- baptismal name
- cataclysmal
- dismal
- in small doses
- made feel small
- made one feel small
- made small
- make feel small
- make one feel small
- make small
- makes feel small
- makes one feel small
- makes small
- making feel small
- making one feel small
- making small
- on a small scale
- paroxysmal
- phantasmal
- small
- small amount
- small amount of money
- small change
- small fry
- small-fry
- small hours
- small house
- small intestine
- small lake
- small memory
- small-minded
- small number
- small potatoes
- small print
- small quantity
- small role
- small-scale
- small size
- small speaking part
- small talk
- small-time
- small-town
- smallclothes
- smaller
- smallest
- smallishness
- smallness
- smallsword
- to a smaller extent
Most wanted synonyms
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019