: insignificant in performance, scope, or standing : petty
small-time thieves
small-timer noun

Examples of small-time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web So far, the law’s most noticeable effects seem to be sending droves of tourists to New Jersey and frustrating small-time Airbnb hosts. Amanda Hoover, WIRED, 5 Mar. 2024 The fact that the small-time local bureaucrat — and not the investors or the lawyers — had suffered the most severely spoke to the real-life consequences of financial fraud, which often seems so abstract and opaque. Jesse Barron, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2024 Proprietor Chris Gore says the site receives upwards of 100 requests for coverage each week from small-time filmmakers looking for reviews. Christopher Null, WIRED, 7 Feb. 2024 Instead of a benefactor, the EU is now seen as the enemy for many, aloof in an ivory tower imposing bureaucratic rules on small-time farmers, while leaders are seen happily relaxing import restrictions for global farming powerhouses or the likes of wartime Ukraine. Raf Casert, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Feb. 2024 Bouncers and prostitutes and small-time gangsters appear with filthy annotations; Black and Turkish residents of Brussels, not to mention colonists in pith helmets, also recur in his scenes of clubs and bars. Jason Farago, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2023 Her husband began to make small-time drug deals, selling homegrown marijuana and poppies, used to make heroin. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2023 But copyright law and the inattention and lack of technological knowledge on the federal bench have combined to create an unlevel playing field on which small-time infringers or innocent targets can get trampled. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2023 Sargsyan went from small-time fraud artist to prolific criminal after meeting Levon Termendzhyan in 2010 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel’s BLVD restaurant, court records show. James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2023

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

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of small-time was in 1915

Dictionary Entries Near small-time

Cite this Entry

“Small-time.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/small-time. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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