few

1 of 3

pronoun

plural in construction
: not many persons or things
few were present
few of his stories are true

few

2 of 3

adjective

1
: consisting of or amounting to only a small number
one of our few pleasures
2
: at least some but indeterminately small in number
used with a
caught a few fish
fewness noun

few

3 of 3

noun

plural in construction
1
: a small number of units or individuals
a few of them
2
: a special limited number
the discriminating few
Phrases
few and far between
: few in number and infrequently met : rare

Examples of few in a Sentence

Adjective He caught fewer fish than the rest of us. There are fewer children at the school this year. Not many people came, but the few people who did enjoyed themselves.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Just a few days after a group U.S. lawmakers moved to toughen a tax loophole that lets Shein import its clothes at a cut price, the clothing giant is now facing pushback from competitors in the U.K. and environmentally-minded politicians in France. Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 5 Mar. 2024 The announcement of the renderings comes a few days before the A’s travel to Las Vegas for a pair of exhibition games against the Milwaukee Brewers at Las Vegas Ballpark, the 10,000-capacity home of the Triple-A Aviators. Jason Mastrodonato, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024 But in the world of venture capital, where investors pride themselves on being mature counselors to brilliant-but-impulsive founders, the public dispute that broke out between Andreessen and Khosla over the past few days qualifies as a remarkable rumpus. Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024 There are a few reasons as to why Hudson, who did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment, may not have been an ideal candidate to work with a large corporate brand (none of which, incidentally, have anything to do with her gender presentation). Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2024 Here are a few tips for fragrance longevity from Huber. Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024 There are also a few participating organizaitons offering free tickets. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2024 With these gorgeous blooms comes influencers sharing a few helpful tricks for keeping them happy and healthy for as long as possible, and a recent one seemingly can bring a bouquet back to life. Christianna Silva, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Mar. 2024 Yet a few voices in the debate over the film are decidedly pro-Civil War. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Mar. 2024
Noun
The combo pairs late-season heli-skiing with fishing for king salmon, an impressive Alaska double few can claim to have pulled off. Mike Campbell, Anchorage Daily News, 28 May 2020 Only a small portion of COVID-19 patients get sick enough to require ventilation—but for the unlucky few who do, data out of China and New York City suggest upward of 80% do not recover. Jamie Ducharme, Time, 16 Apr. 2020 According to the Pew Research Center, more than 70 percent of Polish citizens held a favorable few of the E.U. last year, compared to 48 percent in the United Kingdom. Washington Post, 18 Dec. 2019 Until Kansas City’s famed stockyards closed down in 1991, the city was pretty much wall-to-wall cows and pigs, few of whom were housebroken. Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 22 Jan. 2020 In 2015, when the party came to power, migrants — few of whom were actually trying to enter Poland — were made targets. Marc Santora, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2019 But while most interior design professionals are familiar with the concept of biophilic design, many only recognize a limited few of the countless ways it can be implemented. Michelle Beganskas, Quartz, 3 Dec. 2019 This information did not leak until 2009 and there were few who allowed it to tarnish memories of the Sox’ magical championships of 2004 and 2007. BostonGlobe.com, 16 Nov. 2019 There were few of the latter, sung by Moctar, second guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane and, occasionally, bassist-producer Michael Coltun. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'few.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Pronoun and Adjective

Middle English fewe, pronoun & adjective, from Old English fēawa; akin to Old High German little, Latin paucus little, pauper poor, Greek paid-, pais child, Sanskrit putra son

First Known Use

Pronoun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of few was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near few

Cite this Entry

“Few.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/few. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

few

1 of 3 pronoun
: not many persons or things
used in plural
few were present

few

2 of 3 adjective
1
: amounting to only a small number
one of the few sports I play
2
: not many but some
caught a few fish
fewness noun

few

3 of 3 noun
1
: a small number of units or individuals
a few of them
2
: a special limited number
the select few

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