small
/smɔːl/adjective, adverb, noun, verb
small is spelled S-M-A-L-L. The wrong spelling people search most is samll: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 294 of all searches for the word. Small is an adjective meaning “Not large or big; insignificant; few in number”.
How many letters and syllables are in small?
| Letters | 5: S-M-A-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 324 times per million words; the 289th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, samll, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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 small?
Small is spelled S-M-A-L-L. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 292 of the searches for small 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 small?
Small appears 324 times per million words in written English, the 289th 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 small?
- /smɔl/
- /smɑl/
- UK /smɔːl/
Small has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-small.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-small.wav, En-us-small.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with small
Also written: small unmarked bills, unmarked small bills.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with small?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as small from its last stressed vowel (/ɔl/, British pronunciation):
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 small
- smaller comparative
- smallest superlative
- smalls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- smalling participle, present
- smalled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does small mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.
A small serving of ice cream.
- 2
Humiliated or insignificant.
The bullies had succeeded in making him feel small.
- 3
Having a small penis, muscles, or other important body parts, regardless of overall body size.
(of genitals)
- 4
Young, as a child.
Remember when the children were small?
- 5
Minuscule or lowercase, referring to written or printed letters.
- 6
Evincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; paltry; mean.
- 7
Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short.
a small space of time
- 8
Synonym of little (“of an industry or institution(s) therein: operating on a small scale, unlike larger counterparts”).
small science
adverb
- 1
In a small fashion
Don't write very small!
- 2
In or into small pieces.
That's going to go in there. We've got some chives small chopped as well.
- 3
obsoleteTo a small extent.
- 4
obsoleteIn a low tone; softly.
noun
- 1
One of several common sizes to which an item may be manufactured, smaller than a medium.
- 2
An item labelled or denoted as being that size.
Two smalls and a large, please.
- 3
One who fits an item of that size.
- 4
rareAny part of something that is smaller or slimmer than the rest, now usually with anatomical reference to the back.
I got a splitting pain in the small of my back
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo make little or less.
- 2
To become small; to dwindle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate small?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of small: S, Sm.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Small in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | petit, minuscule , jeune |
| German | klein, gering, chlii , jung |
| Portuguese | pequeno , jovem , minúsculo |
| Spanish | pequeño, chico, parvo , joven , minúsculas |
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 small come from?
From Middle English smal, smale, small, smalle, smel, smæl, from Old English smæl (“narrow, slim; slender; fine; small; quiet”), from Proto-West Germanic *smal, from Proto-Germanic *smalaz (“small”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal- (“small; little”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).