pygmy

/ˈpɪɡmi/
adjective
  1. Very small in size; dwarf.
    • We saw a pygmy elephant at the wildlife sanctuary, much smaller than the African elephants.
    • The pygmy rabbit is the smallest rabbit species in North America.
    • The pygmy owl is a tiny bird that hunts insects and small rodents.
  2. Insignificant or inferior in importance or quality.
    • His pygmy efforts at fundraising barely covered the costs.
    • She gave a pygmy performance that failed to impress the judges.
    • The company's pygmy profits were a disappointment to investors.
Antonyms
noun
  1. A member of a group of very short people from parts of Africa or Southeast Asia.
    • The documentary explored the daily life of a Pygmy community in the rainforest.
    • Anthropologists have studied the traditional hunting methods of the Pygmies for decades.
    • The Pygmy peoples of the Congo Basin have a rich cultural tradition of music and storytelling.
  2. A very small person or thing; a dwarf.
    • The pygmy hippopotamus is much smaller than its larger relative.
    • In the garden, we found a pygmy variety of sunflower that only grows a foot tall.
    • The pygmy marmoset is one of the smallest monkeys in the world.
  3. An insignificant or unimpressive person, often used in a critical way.
    • Compared to the great scientists of the past, he felt like a pygmy.
    • The critic called the new novel a pygmy next to the author's earlier masterpiece.
    • She dismissed the politician as a moral pygmy with no real principles.
Synonyms
Antonyms