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Glite Dictionary
🐔 A small chicken 🐓 Small and bold
banty

banty

9.6
Small but bold and ready to fight
  • adjective
  • /ˈbæn.ti/
  • UK
translation icon : pequeño
  • Despite his banty frame, he stood up to the larger bullies without hesitation.

Examples

  • Who's that soldier boy out there strutting around like a banty rooster?

    Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

  • The banty dog barked fiercely at anyone who approached its owner.

  • She may be small, but her banty attitude makes her a fierce competitor.

Antonyms

large
∞ 1.0

Bigger than average in size, number, or amount

timid
60 3.5

Shy and afraid to do new or risky things

How Feisty

aggressive
311 3.7
combative
31 6.1
scrappy
18 6.0
banty
  • UK
9.6
spunky
  • Informal
16 4.6
cheeky
  • Informal
33 4.8

Surface Forms

banty positive

Morphology

banty = bantam (transparent) = bantam + y

The adjective meaning ('small but spirited') follows directly from the noun 'bantam' with a standard adjectival suffix '-y'.

Etymology

Banty comes from bantam, the name for a small fighting chicken that first came from a place in Indonesia called Banten. Because those chickens are 'small but fierce', calling someone banty means they are small in size but full of bold spirit.