Link Centre Dictionary

Lilliputian

lil·li·pu·tian

US/ˌlɪlɪˈpjuʃən/ uncommon
adjective (3) noun (2)

adjective

1.

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

  • “the Lilliputian population”
2.

very small

  • “diminutive in stature”
  • “a lilliputian chest of drawers”
  • “her petite figure”
  • “tiny feet”
  • “the flyspeck nation of Bahrain moved toward democracy”
Synonyms
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3.

(informal) small and of little importance

  • “a fiddling sum of money”
  • “a footling gesture”
  • “our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war”
  • “a little (or small) matter”
  • “a dispute over niggling details”
  • “limited to petty enterprises”
  • “piffling efforts”
  • “giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction”
Synonyms
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noun

1.

a very small person (resembling a Lilliputian)

2.

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

Origin

From the name of a fictional island called Lilliput in the novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Phrases

  • Lilliputian vision

Related words

Broader terms

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.