little lady
61
4.4
- noun
- /ˈlɪtəl ˈleɪdi/
- Informal
:
mujercita
- You're the prettiest little lady in the whole wide world.
- Hey, little lady
- Whoa, little lady
- Here, little lady
I had a sweet little lady come in one late one night.
- I had a sweet little lady come in one late one night.
- I would posit that there's a little lady who wasn't powerful.
- Come on, turn that frown upside down, little lady.
- But that was she's a ballsy little lady.
- And the truth is that, you know, we got little ladies out here beating cancer and, you know, just saying, hey, do I go hat or no hat?
- All our songs were an E Sweet little lady, I love you little girl face.
Examples
-
Why, thank you, little lady.
-
And who is this lovely little lady?
-
Excuse me little lady, I thought I saw a fire.
-
So this brings me back to the little lady in the fish market.
-
I had a sweet little lady come in one late one night.
-
I am gonna give you a ride home, little lady.
-
This is the little lady I was telling you about.
-
Where do you think you're going, little lady?
-
There you sat, legs crossed and hands folded in your lap, like a perfect little lady.
Fiction book (1997) -
You're the prettiest little lady in the whole wide world.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A polite or respectful word for a woman
∞
1.0
A grown woman who meets and talks with other women
∞
1.0
A person you love very much
558
2.8
A person you love or care for very much
487
1.0
A girl or young woman in her teens to early twenties
360
3.2
A polite way to address a woman in a position of authority
308
8.1
A name you call someone you love
283
7.7
A woman or girl said in a friendly, informal way
95
8.8
A young girl or young woman someone speaks to in a casual, slightly rude way
62
9.0
An affectionate slang word often used for a girlfriend or close friend
36
4.7
A polite title people use for a woman in French, like Mrs
19
2.8
A young woman or girl called in a polite, friendly way
13
9.9
A polite old-fashioned way to speak to a woman of noble rank
7
9.9
An informal word for a good-looking woman used playfully
2
8.2
An attractive young woman often talked about in a kind way or as less grown-up
1
8.3
A friendly informal name someone uses for a romantic partner
1
9.9
A polite way to call a woman, like madam
1
9.9
A friendly name used for a young or attractive woman
1
9.8
A French word used to call someone you love, like 'darling'
1
9.4
A casual name for a person you date, often a girlfriend
1
8.9
An informal name for a woman or girl
A person someone loves and finds cute
How Affectionate
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward adjective+noun composition: a learner who knows 'little' and 'lady' can infer it refers to a small/young or affectionately described woman. While pragmatic nuance (affectionate vs. patronizing) may require exposure, the basic referential meaning is directly derivable from the constituents and is cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
Little lady comes from old polite manners, when people would call a small or young woman little and add the polite word lady, like a man tipping his hat to a girl. That's why it is often a warm 'term of endearment' but can also sound slightly 'patronizing'.