I. di ‧ min ‧ u ‧ tive 1 /dəˈmɪnjətɪv, dɪˈmɪnjətɪv/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: diminutif , from Latin minuere 'to make less' ]
small:
a shy diminutive man
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THESAURUS
■ person
▪ short someone who is short is not as tall as most people:
He was a short fat man.
▪ not very tall quite short. This phrase sounds more gentle than saying that someone is short :
She wasn’t very tall – maybe about 1.60 m.
▪ small short and with a small body:
My mother was a small woman.
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The girl was quite small for her age (=smaller than other girls of the same age) .
▪ petite used about a woman who is attractively short and thin:
She was a petite woman with blonde hair.
▪ stocky used about a boy or man who is short, heavy, and strong:
Harry was stocky and middle-aged.
▪ dumpy short and fat:
a dumpy girl with red hair
▪ diminutive formal literary very short or small – used especially in descriptions in novels:
a diminutive figure dressed in black
▪ stubby stubby fingers or toes are short and thick:
the baby’s stubby little fingers
II. diminutive 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a word formed by adding a diminutive suffix