little man
39
6.5
- noun
- Informal
:
hombrecito
- Are you all right, little man?
- care for the little man
Examples
-
And you, little man, are gonna have so much fun with your daddy today.
-
The big money men pretend they care for the little man, but they take advantage whenever they can.
Academic text (1990) -
We all know that, and it's been such a delight and honor to watch you grow up into the little man that you are now.
-
I have never seen such a strong little man with so much heart, drive, and determination.
Blog text (31) -
The right type of men will always run this country, Jesse James, and little men like you will always suffer.
Fiction book (2001) -
Now the stranger stood up, a little man with black stubble on his face.
Fiction book (2001) -
And the victor who succeeded was a little man with a giant head, called Ben-Gurion.
Blog text (31) -
The Dugbo practitioner was a spindly little man dressed in brown rags and boots of uncured leather.
Fiction book (1993) -
A stoop-shouldered little man in his late 60s, Harry Trumbo shambles along the street, headed for Mabel's Diner.
Fiction book (2001) -
In a corporate meeting, the little man felt ignored while the executives made all the important decisions.
Synonyms
75
5.9
A very short adult often because of a medical condition called dwarfism
13
5.3
An ordinary person with no special powers or status
1
6.9
People or groups seen as unimportant compared to others
How Powerful
∞
1.0
15
3.2
- Informal
39
6.5
- Offensive
18
2.4
- Offensive
1
6.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'an ordinary person who feels insignificant or powerless' follows directly from combining 'little' (small/insignificant) with 'man' (person); the adjective simply conveys a diminutive or low-status quality. This compositional, adjectival pattern is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Little man paints the picture of a very small little man standing beside big buildings or powerful people, so he looks unimportant. That's why the phrase means 'an ordinary person' who feels 'insignificant' or 'powerless' against authority.