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dwarf

dwarf

14 3.9
A plant or animal much smaller than others of its kind
  • noun
  • /dwɔrf/
translation icon : enano
  • In our garden, we planted several dwarf fruit trees that only grow to about three feet tall.

Look how small the seeds are on this dwarf.

Examples

  • Eustoma, lisianthus, is a dwarf with purplish-blue, bell-shaped flowers that last up to 14 days.

    Academic text (1994)
  • It's also home to one of the dwarf planets series.

  • You have things like dwarf Birch, lots of Moss, things like that.

  • Little Belle Blue was developed as the first true genetic dwarf selected from tissue culture.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The dwarf hamster is a popular pet due to its small size and friendly nature.

  • This dwarf variety of sunflower produces bright blooms that are perfect for small spaces.

Synonyms

Lilliputian
vsdwarf
  • Literature
2 9.9

A very small person or creature like one in a story

focuses on real plants or animals rather than tiny fictional people
pigmy
vsdwarf
  • Offensive
7.8

A person, animal, or thing that is much smaller than others of the same kind

is used only for plants or animals rather than people or objects

Compounds

white dwarf
  • Specialized
5 7.5

A small, very dense star that remains after a star uses its fuel and glows with leftover heat

red dwarf
  • Specialized
3 6.4

A small star that is cooler, much dimmer, and lives a very long time

red dwarf star
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A small, cool star that shines red and lives for a very long time

white dwarf star
  • Specialized
1 5.9

A small, very dense, faint star left when a star like the Sun stops burning its fuel

A low evergreen plant with fine leaves and small pink or burgundy flowers used as ground cover

A small banana tree that grows near the ground and makes sweet yellow fruit

A low bush with pink flowers that has sweet blue berries

A low bush that has small sweet blue berries

9.5

A small spreading shrub from the southeastern United States with bright pink flower clusters

A small buffalo from Sulawesi with short straight horns

A small plant with hairy leaves that makes sweet yellow fruits

A small bushy tree from the southeastern United States that makes small edible nuts

dwarf chinkapin oak
  • Specialized
9.0

A small bushy tree that makes sweet edible nuts and often grows in dense groups

dwarf chinquapin oak
  • Specialized
8.8

A small bushy oak tree that makes sweet small acorns and forms dense thickets

dwarf cornel
  • Specialized
9.9

A low-growing plant with groups of leaves and bright red berries that grows in cold northern areas

dwarf daisy
  • Specialized
7.5

A small plant with soft, hairy leaves and tiny yellow flowers that lives for one year

dwarf dandelion
  • Specialized
9.8

A small wild plant with yellow flowers that makes fluffy seed heads in spring

9.4

A small wild plant with strong-smelling white flowers and black berries used in medicine

9.5

A low, spreading plant with thin needle leaves and pink or white flowers used to cover the ground

dwarf pipefish
  • Specialized
9.9

A small thin fish about 10 cm long that lives in shallow coastal waters

dwarf pocket rat
  • Specialized
9.9

A small animal like a mouse with soft fur and pouches in its cheeks

A small bush with pink or red flowers that blooms in spring

dwarf sperm whale
  • Specialized
7.7

A very small sperm whale that lives in warm and cool seas and grows to about 8 feet long

dwarf spurge
  • Specialized
9.9

A small annual weed with tiny leaves that spreads on the ground

dwarf sumac
  • Specialized
8.1

A low bush from eastern North America with divided leaves and clusters of red berries that attract birds

dwarf tulip
  • Specialized
4.0

A small flower that blooms early and stays low in the garden

dwarf willow
  • Specialized
7.3

A very small willow plant that grows low on cold mountains and in Arctic places

dwarf elm
  • Specialized
5.8

A small Asian tree with many branches and small leaves that grows quickly and makes a good windbreak in gardens

A small decorative bush from China with many pink, red, or white flowers

9.9

A small evergreen shrub like the golden chinkapin that grows on mountain slopes in California

dwarf gray willow
  • Specialized
9.6

A small willow bush in the eastern United States with long narrow leaves that are gray and hairy underneath

9.9

A small plant in the western United States that grows every year and has yellow daisy-like flowers on rocky slopes

6.3

A low-growing iris plant with small, colorful flowers

A low spreading shrub with evergreen leaves often used as ground cover

9.9

A small low plant that grows in clumps and forms loose mats on the ground in eastern North America

6.5

A small maple tree with short height and bright autumn leaves

A small bushy pine from central Europe with short bright green needles in pairs

A low plant that spreads along the ground and makes small orange berries

A small European plant with tiny yellow flowers that grows in grasslands

7.6

A small bushy oak that grows in dense groups and makes sweet nuts

dwarf-white trillium
  • Specialized
9.5

A low plant with white flowers that lives for many years in the southeastern United States

A small shrub with low, spreading branches that grows in cold northern regions

Levi-Lorrain dwarf
  • Specialized
9.9

A person with very short height caused by not enough growth hormone rather than by a bone growth condition

hypophysial dwarf
  • Specialized
9.9

A person much shorter than usual because a small part of the brain makes too little growth hormone

hypoplastic dwarf
  • Specialized
9.9

A person much shorter than average because their bones do not grow fully but with normal mind and body shape

9.9

A small birch that grows as a low shrub in cold parts of North America and Greenland

normal dwarf
  • Archaic
8.3

A person much shorter than average from a gene change, with usual body shape, thinking, and sexual growth

primordial dwarf
  • Specialized
9.9

A person who is much smaller than normal due to a rare genetic condition, with normal mental and sexual development

onion yellow dwarf
  • Specialized
7.4

A virus that makes onion plants small and their leaves turn yellow

6.2

A virus that makes onion plants grow poorly and their leaves turn yellow

pituitary dwarf
  • Specialized
8.7

A person who is much shorter than usual because their body makes too little growth hormone, with normal body proportions

potato yellow dwarf
  • Specialized
5.6

A disease of potato plants that makes leaves yellow and plants small

6.1

A germ that makes potato plants small and their leaves turn yellow

Tasman dwarf pine
  • Australian
9.5

A small evergreen shrub with short stiff branches that grows in Tasmania

true dwarf
  • Archaic
9.8

A person who is very short because of a gene problem but with normal body shape and mind

yellow dwarf
  • Specialized
8.7

A plant virus that makes leaves turn yellow and plants stay small

7.0

A disease of potato plants that makes leaves turn yellow and plants grow poorly

How Tall

tree fern
1 6.1
Matteuccia struthiopteris
  • Specialized
9.9
medium-sized
31 2.4
scale fern
  • UK
9.9
dwarf
14 3.9

Surface Forms

dwarf singular
dwarfs plural
dwarves plural

Etymology

Dwarf is also used for a plant or animal that is much smaller than usual, simply extending the old idea of something being very small, so a 'dwarf' tree is a small variety of its species.