dwarf

CEFRB2

/dwɔɹf/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A person or thing much smaller than usual.

  2. 02

    verb

    To make something seem very small by comparison.

Examples

  • I was a dwarf compared with my hostesses.

  • The populations of China and India dwarf those of every other nation.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A person of short stature, often one whose limbs are disproportionately small in relation to the body as compared with typical adults, usually as the result of a genetic condition.

  2. An animal, plant or other thing much smaller than the usual of its sort.

  3. Any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.

More examples

In context

  • The specimen is a very dwarf form of the plant.

  • dwarf honeysuckle

  • It is possible to grow the plants as dwarf as one desires.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The giant skyscraper made the neighboring buildings look like a tiny blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz. Cognate with Scots droich, dwerch (“dwarf, midget”); Old High German twerc (German, Luxembourgish Zwerg (“dwarf”)); Old Norse dvergr (Danish dværg (“dwarf, midget”), Faroese dvørgur (“dwarf”), Icelandic dvergur (“dwarf”), Norwegian Bokmål dverg (“dwarf”), Norwegian Nynorsk dverg, verg (“dwarf”), Swedish dvärg (“dwarf”)); Old Frisian dwirg (Saterland Frisian Dwärch (“dwarf”), West Frisian dwerch (“dwarf”)); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg (“dwarf”)); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg (“dwarf”)). The Modern English noun has u...