pygmy

noun pyg·my \ ˈpig-mē \

variants: or less commonly pigmy

|Updated on: 4 Aug 2018

Examples: pygmy in a Sentence

Definition of pygmy

plural pygmies also pigmies

1 often capitalized : any of a race of dwarfs described by ancient Greek authors

2 capitalized : any of a small people of equatorial Africa ranging under five feet (1.5 meters) in height

3 a (1) : an unusually small person

(2) : an insignificant or unimpressive person

an intellectual pygmy

b : something very small of its kind

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pygmy

adjective

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Examples of pygmy in a Sentence

hummingbirds may be the pygmies of the avian world, but what they lack in size they make up for in beauty
regrettably, most of the candidates for the party's nomination that year were political pygmies

Recent Examples of pygmy from the Web

The ministry revealed that the whale measures 24 meters (nearly 80 feet) long, and belongs to a subspecies known as the pygmy blue whale.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Huge Blue Whale Sighted in the Red Sea for the First Time," 2 June 2018
Sure enough, a pygmy rattlesnake, dark, reddish-brown with pink spots, lay coiled up under the ledge.

— patty hodapp, Outside Online, "The Man Who Survived a Rattler, Bear, and Shark Attack," 10 July 2018
The one-hour yoga class is fine for all levels, even beginners, and the second hour involves playing with the 15 to 20 pygmy goats.

— sandy guerra-cline, star-telegram, "The DFW top 10: Rockin' the River keeps the fireworks going," 3 July 2018
The elaborate petting zoo includes a herd of tame fallow deer along with a menagerie that includes reindeer, wallabies, marmosets, coatimundis, mini horses, pygmy goats and more.

— roger naylor, azcentral, "Arizona road trip: Williams has Route 66, Bearizona and cool summer fun," 15 June 2018
This year, a 2-year-old pygmy goat named Princess Jenny crossed the finish line first, claiming the crown.

— bethany ao, Philly.com, "The cutthroat goat races of Sly Fox Brewery's annual Bock Fest," 7 May 2018
Although this species is not threatened, two of the six species of sloth are endangered: the pygmy three-toed sloth (critically endangered) and the maned sloth (vulnerable).

— terry gardner, latimes.com, "Just in time for Mother's Day: zoo babies in the West," 6 May 2018
The prevalence of the third species, a pygmy gecko that looks like a yellow rubber fishing lure, does not appear to have changed much.

— geoffrey giller, Scientific American, "Island Lizards Shift to Evolutionary Fast-Track after Invasive Goats and Rats Are Eradicated," 30 Apr. 2018
So Kneale and Mark Mellgren, a construction vendor and volunteer for the tournament, found a pygmy goat at a nearby farm on Craig’s List.

— roxanna scott, USA TODAY, "Meet Faaaabel the goat, Valero Texas Open's new unofficial mascot," 18 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pygmy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.