dwarf
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A plant or animal that is atypically small.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dwawrfIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdwɔɹf
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A plant or animal that is atypically small
An animal, plant or other thing much smaller than the usual of its sort.
A person who is markedly small
A legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure
mythology
Any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.
verb
transitive
To render (much) smaller, turn into a dwarf (version).
transitive
To make appear (much) smaller, puny, tiny; to be much larger than.
Make appear small by comparison
“This year's debt dwarfs that of last year.”
transitive
To make appear insignificant.
intransitive
To become (much) smaller.
To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A plant or animal that is atypically small
Used this way, dwarf is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use dwarf
- “This year's debt dwarfs that of last year.”verb
- “The lack of sunlight dwarfed these pines.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Low-growing Asian banana tree cultivated especially in the West Indies for its clusters of edible yellow fruit.
Low-growing tufted deciduous shrub of northern and alpine North America having pink to coral-red flowers followed by sweet blue berries.
Low-growing tufted deciduous shrub of northern and alpine North America having pink to coral-red flowers followed by sweet blue berries.
A spreading shrub with pink flowers.
Small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns.
Stout hairy annual of eastern North America with sweet yellow fruits.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.