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smallish

smallish

10 2.0
A little smaller than usual
  • adjective
  • /ˈsmɔːlɪʃ/
translation icon : más bien pequeño
  • He bought a smallish car that was perfect for driving in the city.

I have two smallish pieces of muslin for the bra cup.

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Examples

  • We can certainly pull together one smallish wedding.

  • A little bit of space on the side here, maybe a smallish water bottle.

  • But anyway, I have a kind of smallish hall for you today.

  • Up ahead, the door to their smallish hotel room is open.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • I find these smallish bills so easy to spend.

  • I am a doctor myself, in a smallish town in the Midwest.

    Blog text (8)
  • On display were the shoulders, arms and chest of a smallish man, still trim and attractive.

  • Here, sharply carved terrain provides a smallish, nestled port scene.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Relatively few ethnic Chicagoans marched in the procession, which was itself smallish with approximately five thousand in line.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Jules Valdo was a smallish man with a pinched mouth and a crease between his brows.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

small
vssmallish
1.0

Not large in size or amount

is less definite, meaning only a moderate size rather than clearly not large
small-scale
vssmallish
30 2.7

Used for projects or models that are not large

emphasizes a moderate size rather than limited scope or extent

Antonyms

sizable
  • US
64 3.7

Quite large in size or amount

How Big

huge
1.0
large
1.0
medium
162 1.3
smallish
10 2.0
tiny
1.0

Surface Forms

smallish positive
smaller comparative
smallest superlative

Morphology

smallish = small (transparent) = small + ish

The adjective is clearly formed from 'small' + '-ish' meaning 'somewhat' or 'fairly small', a productive and transparent derivation.

Etymology

The word smallish is small plus the ending -ish, which often means 'somewhat' or 'kind of', just like in greenish. So smallish means 'fairly small' or 'somewhat small'.