dwarfish

[ dwawr-fish ]

adjective

1. like a dwarf, especially in being abnormally small; diminutive.

   Synonyms: runty, stunted, tiny, pygmy

Other Words From

• dwarfish·ly adverb
• dwarfish·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dwarfish¹

First recorded in 1555–65; dwarf + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

“Now does he feel his title/ Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe/ upon a dwarfish thief.”

From Salon

Across eons, large galaxies gradually assembled via countless collisions of their dwarfish kin, scientists presume.

From Scientific American

For example, in Lisa Morton’s feverish “Robert Chambers Reads ‘The King in Yellow,’ ” we again encounter that dwarfish being named Mr. Wilde, who lacks fingers on his left hand and wears artificial wax ears attached by wires.

From Washington Post

Before them, at a long stone table, a dwarfish figure with a bristling yellow beard glared at the warriors.

From Literature

Letters were multiplied by symbols, crowded into parentheses, and set upon by dwarfish numbers drawn at odd angles.

From Literature