small; little; tiny: a diminutive building for a model-train layout.
Grammar. pertaining to or productive of a form denoting smallness, familiarity, affection, or triviality, as the suffix -let, in droplet from drop.
noun
a small thing or person.
Grammar. a diminutive element or formation.
Heraldry. a charge, as an ordinary, smaller in length or breadth than the usual.
Origin of diminutive
First recorded before 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin dīminūtīvus, equivalent to Latin dīminūt(us) “lessened” (for dēminūtus ) + -īvus adjective suffix; see diminution,-ive
synonym study for diminutive
1. See little.
OTHER WORDS FROM diminutive
di·min·u·tive·ly,adverbdi·min·u·tive·ness,noun
Words nearby diminutive
diminished seventh chord, diminishing returns, diminishing returns, law of, diminuendo, diminution, diminutive, dimissory, Dimitrios I, Dimitrov, Dimitrovo, dimity
Hydrogen’s diminutive size lets electrons get closer to the nodes of the lattice, augmenting their interactions with the vibrations.
Room-Temperature Superconductivity Achieved for the First Time|Charlie Wood|October 14, 2020|Quanta Magazine
In 2011, scientists found the sculptors — the diminutive males of what was then a new species of Torquigener pufferfish.
Pufferfish may be carving mysterious ‘crop circles’ near Australia|Jake Buehler|October 13, 2020|Science News
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a diminutive yet towering women’s rights champion who became the court’s second female justice, died Friday at her home in Washington.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87|Verne Kopytoff|September 18, 2020|Fortune
From the diminutive Pathfinder rover back in 1997 to the twin sisters Spirit and Opportunity, and the still-roaming Curiosity—the effective older sibling of Perseverance in design and scale.
Take Our Virtual Trip to Mars - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Caleb Scharf|September 2, 2020|Nautilus
Her style, much like her diminutive nickname, is best described as “Hamptons twee”—preppy and peppy.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Tyrion, now on the lam for patricide by crossbow, is destined for an unknown foreign port like a diminutive Edward Snowden.
Valar Morghulis: Game of Thrones’ Women Are Going to Rule the World|Scott Bixby|June 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Similar to the Space Shuttle in appearance, the diminutive X-37B is about a quarter the size of the old shuttles.
Will The Pentagon’s Secret Space Plane Ever Return to Earth?|Kyle Mizokami|April 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Edmund Morgan, 97 Diminutive, almost elfin in appearance, he bestrode his field like a colossus.
The Deaths You Missed This Year|Malcolm Jones, Jimmy So, Michael Moynihan, Caitlin Dickson|December 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The diminutive history teacher turned soldier once said he learned his trade in the bush.
General Giap and the Myth of American Invincibility|James A. Warren|October 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Mr. Harding acknowledged the diminutive incumbency of St. Cuthbert's.
Barchester Towers|Anthony Trollope
Instantly with the diminutive horse swift anger took the place of surprise.
Ben Blair|Will Lillibridge
But the diminutive dimensions of the apartment struck her at once, and she mentally decided that it must be the "libry."
Family Pride|Mary J. Holmes
Beside him, a diminutive figure of a nude boy holding a strigil.
A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I (of 2)|A. H. Smith
Two other diminutive deer, known as pudus, closely allied to the brockets, are found in South America.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood
British Dictionary definitions for diminutive
diminutive
/ (dɪˈmɪnjʊtɪv) /
adjective
very small; tiny
grammar
denoting an affix added to a word to convey the meaning small or unimportant or to express affection, as for example the suffix -ette in French
denoting a word formed by the addition of a diminutive affix