Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or quality of being little, in any sense of that word.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state or quality of being little

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The property of being little, smallness.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the property of having relatively little strength or vigor
  • noun lack of generosity in trifling matters
  • noun the property of having a relatively small size

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word littleness.

Examples

  • They miss her "littleness" - her insignificance...

    Archive 2006-09-24 Terry Nelson 2006

  • They miss her "littleness" - her insignificance...

    Transitus... Terry Nelson 2006

  • Having had to encounter single - handed during his period of eclipse many physical dangers, he was well aware of the most dangerous element common to them all: of the crushing, paralyzing sense of human littleness, which is what really defeats

    Nostromo: a Tale of the Seaboard 1904

  • Having had to encounter singlehanded during his period of eclipse many physical dangers, he was well aware of the most dangerous element common to them all: of the crushing, paralyzing sense of human littleness, which is what really defeats a man struggling with natural forces, alone, far from the eyes of his fellows.

    Nostromo, a Tale of the Seaboard Joseph Conrad 1890

  • Take it which way you will, the leading idea is that of "littleness;" moreover, there is no propriety in the word "creep" as applied to

    Notes and Queries, Number 53, November 2, 1850 Various

  • I went off in one of the first boats and the moment it touched the pebbly strand of the side of the inlet I jumped out and walked away, eager to be alone to enjoy the glory of it all away from the rasping voices, the worldly talk of my companions, the perpetual "littleness" of ideas that humanity drags with it everywhere.

    Five Nights Victoria Cross 1910

  • Professor Flint's usually candid mind has had a Creator, it nowhere displays the "littleness" of prejudice in so marked a degree as it does when "measuring his attributes."

    A Candid Examination of Theism George John Romanes 1871

  • Brewer wonders if we have been captured by "littleness" and warns that "Phariseeism dwarfs the soul, paralyzes the heart and vitiates sympathy and love."

    Stoned-Campbell Disciple 2009

  • "littleness," for I knew that I was still but a very small shaver -- smaller even than my age would indicate -- though I had a well-knit frame, and was tolerably tight and tough.

    The Boy Tar Mayne Reid 1850

  • Thus he showed, combined in his person, that excess of grandeur and of littleness which is acquired from the practice of royalty. "

    Louis Philippe Makers of History Series 1841

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.