Library / English Dictionary

LILLIPUTIAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A 6-inch tall inhabitant of Lilliput in a novel by Jonathan Swift

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

character; fictional character; fictitious character (an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story))

Derivation:

Lilliputian (tiny; relating to or characteristic of the imaginary country of Lilliput)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A very small person (resembling a Lilliputian)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("lilliputian" is a kind of...):

small person (a person of below average size)

Derivation:

lilliputian (very small)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(informal) small and of little importance

Example:

giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction

Synonyms:

fiddling; footling; lilliputian; little; niggling; petty; picayune; piddling; piffling; trivial

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

unimportant (not important)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Very small

Example:

the flyspeck nation of Bahrain moved toward democracy

Synonyms:

bantam; diminutive; flyspeck; lilliputian; midget; petite; tiny

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

little; small (limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent)

Derivation:

lilliputian (a very small person (resembling a Lilliputian))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Tiny; relating to or characteristic of the imaginary country of Lilliput

Example:

the Lilliputian population

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Lilliput (a land imagined by Jonathan Swift that was inhabited by tiny people)

Derivation:

Lilliput (a land imagined by Jonathan Swift that was inhabited by tiny people)

Lilliputian (a 6-inch tall inhabitant of Lilliput in a novel by Jonathan Swift)

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