little
lit·tle/ˈlɪ.tl̩/adjective, adverb, determiner, pronoun, noun
little is spelled L-I-T-T-L-E, 2 syllables: lit·tle. The wrong spelling people search most is liitle: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 588 of all searches for the word. Little is an adjective meaning “Small, not large, limited, particularly”.
How many letters and syllables are in little?
| Letters | 6: L-I-T-T-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: lit·tle |
| In writing | 562 times per million words; the 173rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, liitle, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell little?
Little is spelled L-I-T-T-L-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 301 of the searches for little in either form.
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 little?
Little appears 562 times per million words in written English, the 173rd 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 little?
- /ˈlɪ.tl̩/
- Australia [ˈlɪ.ɾɫ̩]
- /ˈlɘ.tl̩/
Little has 2 syllables, split lit·tle in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-little.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-little.wav, En-us-little.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with little
Sounds like: Littell (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with little?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as little.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: tillet.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of little
- littler comparative
- lesser comparative
- littlest superlative
- least superlative
- lil
- li'l
- li'l'
- lit'l
- leetle
- lickle
- liddle
- litle
- lytel
- littel
- lyttel
- litel
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does little mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Small, not large, limited, particularly
- 2
Small, limited in size.
This is a little table.
- 3
Short, limited in extent.
It’s only a little ways now.
- 4
Brief, limited in duration.
I always feel better after a little sleep.
- 5
Young, limited in growth.
Where's the little boys' room?
- 6
Younger, regardless of size or height.
You may be an Olympic weightlifter but you're still my little sister.
- 7
Undeveloped or underdeveloped, limited in development, particularly (offensive, of a male) in the genitals.
- 8
Small, limited in number, having few members.
That's a mighty little herd you've got there.
adverb
- 1
Not much.
This is a little-known fact: the new model is little faster than the old one.
- 2
Not at all.
Little did he know that the burglar was creeping upstairs at that very moment.
determiner
- 1
Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).
There is (very) little water left.
pronoun
- 1
Not much; not a large amount.
Little is known about his early life.
noun
- 1
A small amount.
I hope the little we've done will be useful.
- 2
informalA child, particularly an infant.
- 3
A newly initiated member of a sorority or fraternity, who is mentored by a big.
- 4
The participant who acts out the younger role.
- 5
One who has mentally age regressed to a childlike state.
- 6
Ellipsis of little go (“type of examination”).
I go up for my Little tomorrow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Little in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | petit , peu, pas beaucoup de , cadet , peu de |
| German | klein, wenig, lütt, lützel, chlei , kaum |
| Portuguese | pequeno , menor , mais novo , pouco , pequenino |
| Spanish | pequeño , poco, menor , poquito |
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 little come from?
From Middle English litel, litell, luitel, lutel, lutil, luytel, from Old English lȳtel, lyttel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil (“little”), from *lūtan (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bow down, lout”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, crouch, duck”), equivalent to lout + -le.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).