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diminutive

di·min·u·tive/dɪˈmɪn.jə.tɪv/adjective, noun

diminutive is spelled D-I-M-I-N-U-T-I-V-E, 4 syllables: di·min·u·tive. The wrong spelling people search most is dimunitive: about 160 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 16 of all searches for the word. Diminutive is an adjective meaning “Very small”.

How many letters and syllables are in diminutive?

Letters10: D-I-M-I-N-U-T-I-V-E
Syllables4: di·min·u·tive
In writing1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched2; the most searched, dimunitive, about 160 Bing searches a month (all of them)

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell diminutive?

Diminutive is spelled D-I-M-I-N-U-T-I-V-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 11 of the searches for diminutive in either form.

diminutivethe right spelling2,380 searches a month
dimunitiveu in place of i, i in place of u160 searches a month
diminuitivean extra i70 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is diminutive?

Diminutive appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce diminutive?

  • US /dɪˈmɪn.jə.tɪv/
  • /dəˈmən.jə.təv/
  • /dɪˈmɪn.ju.ə.tɪv/

Diminutive has 4 syllables, split di·min·u·tive in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-diminutive.ogg, En-au-diminutive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of diminutive

  • more diminutive comparative
  • most diminutive superlative
  • dim.
  • diminutives plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does diminutive mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Very small.

  2. 2

    obsoleteServing to diminish.

  3. 3

    Of or pertaining to, or creating a word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.

noun

  1. 1

    A word form expressing smallness, youth, unimportance, or endearment.

    Booklet, the diminutive of book, means ‘small book’.

  2. 2

    The smallest, thinnest version of a traditional heraldic ordinary ("geometric shape on a shield"), often used to represent multiple instances of a charge or to modify a main, central, and larger charge; not itself modifiable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate diminutive?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of diminutive: dim., dimin..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Diminutive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchminuscule (very small), diminutif (grammar)
Germanwinzig, diminutiv (very small), verkleinernd (serving to diminish), Diminutiv, Diminutivum, Verkleinerungsform (grammar: word form expressing smallness)
Portugueseminúsculo, diminuto (very small), diminutivo, diminuidor (serving to diminish)
Spanishdiminuto (very small), diminutivo (serving to diminish)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does diminutive come from?

Inherited from Middle English diminutif, derived from Old French diminutif, derived from Latin dīminutīv|us, ~a, ~um (adjective), from dīminūt|us, ~a, ~um (participle), perfect passive participle of dīmin|uō, ~uere, ~uī, ~ūtum (verb). First attested in 1398.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after diminutive