variants
also dwarves
1
as in diminutives
a living thing much smaller than others of its kind
Shetland ponies are the dwarfs of the horse world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in elves
an imaginary being usually having a small human form and magical powers
Snow White and the seven dwarfs
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in nobodies
a person of no importance or influence
it would be ridiculous to compare the two sculptors—one's a giant of the art world and the other's a dwarf
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in suppresses
to hold back the normal growth of
shrubs dwarfed by the lack of water
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Recent Examples of dwarfs
David Kamp,
New Yorker,
29 June 2026
Major props to the dwarfs who saw this as a convenient way to score help in the cleaning department.
—
Lincee Ray,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 June 2026
Brown dwarfs are weird objects that have masses that are intermediate between those of giant planets and small stars.
—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
19 June 2026
Writer Steve Phillips’ investments in the race dwarfs spending by any other single donor.
—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
29 May 2026
Mini dwarfs are small-scale race cars with a maximum speed of 34 mph.
—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 May 2026
Big money, uneven returns Steyer’s spending dwarfs every other candidate.
—
Grace Hase,
Mercury News,
25 Apr. 2026
Look for taller varieties and avoid dwarfs.
—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
16 Apr. 2026
Like dwarfs and the disabled, female gladiators were considered funny.
—
Literary Hub,
15 Apr. 2026
Michelle Williams,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2026
The total spending in this year's primary contest between Bennet and Weiser, at nearly $23 million, dwarfs that in the GOP race.
—
Nick Coltrain,
Denver Post,
30 June 2026
Atlanta alone more than quadrupled the amount of new data center space available for companies to lease from April 2024 through March 2025, a growth rate that dwarfs its peers.
—
Aj Willingham,
AJC.com,
29 June 2026
That dwarfs anything the powerhouse Spain teams did in the early 2010s, when the team was known for stringing together an insane number of passes that led to a goal.
—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
29 June 2026
This scale dwarfs European and North American national markets combined, creating an enormous economy of scale for manufacturers of black paints.
—
New Atlas,
26 June 2026
California is still the biggest spender overall, and even the neighboring New York state dwarfs New Jersey today — but change is in the Jersey Shore salt water air.
—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
23 June 2026
Still, Google Chrome, with its 70% global market share, dwarfs Vivaldi.
—
Chris Hoffman,
PC Magazine,
19 June 2026
The data center, about 100 feet away, dwarfs his home.
—
David Wade,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Noun
As virality goes, this is not a big number, but the passion that the account has aroused dwarfs its reach.
—
David Kamp,
New Yorker,
29 June 2026
Major props to the dwarfs who saw this as a convenient way to score help in the cleaning department.
—
Lincee Ray,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 June 2026
Brown dwarfs are weird objects that have masses that are intermediate between those of giant planets and small stars.
—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
19 June 2026
Writer Steve Phillips’ investments in the race dwarfs spending by any other single donor.
—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
29 May 2026
Mini dwarfs are small-scale race cars with a maximum speed of 34 mph.
—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 May 2026
Big money, uneven returns Steyer’s spending dwarfs every other candidate.
—
Grace Hase,
Mercury News,
25 Apr. 2026
Look for taller varieties and avoid dwarfs.
—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
16 Apr. 2026
Like dwarfs and the disabled, female gladiators were considered funny.
—
Literary Hub,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
Georgia's library dwarfs both countries, and most of it remains unknown outside its borders.
—
Michelle Williams,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2026
The total spending in this year's primary contest between Bennet and Weiser, at nearly $23 million, dwarfs that in the GOP race.
—
Nick Coltrain,
Denver Post,
30 June 2026
Atlanta alone more than quadrupled the amount of new data center space available for companies to lease from April 2024 through March 2025, a growth rate that dwarfs its peers.
—
Aj Willingham,
AJC.com,
29 June 2026
That dwarfs anything the powerhouse Spain teams did in the early 2010s, when the team was known for stringing together an insane number of passes that led to a goal.
—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
29 June 2026
This scale dwarfs European and North American national markets combined, creating an enormous economy of scale for manufacturers of black paints.
—
New Atlas,
26 June 2026
California is still the biggest spender overall, and even the neighboring New York state dwarfs New Jersey today — but change is in the Jersey Shore salt water air.
—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
23 June 2026
Still, Google Chrome, with its 70% global market share, dwarfs Vivaldi.
—
Chris Hoffman,
PC Magazine,
19 June 2026
The data center, about 100 feet away, dwarfs his home.
—
David Wade,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dwarfs
Noun
-
Dreyer went on to build many Indy 500 cars in the 1930s and built championship-winning sprint cars, midgets and quarter-midgets.
-
From midgets to Indy cars, from sprint cars to stock cars, Stewart was at home behind the wheel.
Noun
-
Ferrell starred as Buddy in the 2003 Christmas classic, which focused on a human adopted by elves and raised as an elf in the North Pole until one day, as an adult, discovering his true identity.
-
At the end of 2005-2006, a whole host of elves got arrested and were sent to prison.
Noun
-
Yvonne and Nick’s disastrous wedding dinner is the day the cast went from nobodies to actual practitioners of the reality-television arts and sciences.
-
Despite the tragicomic instability and the rotating cast of nobodies temporarily tasked with running the country, when seen in macroeconomic terms, Peru appears to be doing just fine, thank you.
Verb
-
Nieusma notes that calendula grows low to the ground, forming a ground cover that shades the soil and suppresses weeds.
-
Healthy soil retains more water, cycles more nutrients and suppresses more pests, all work that conventional operations purchase as fertilizer, irrigation and insecticide.
Noun
-
Lawn Ornaments Too many lawn ornaments, such as gnomes, fairies, dolls, or flamingos, read as tacky to Emily Roose, the founder of Emily Roose Interiors.
-
And creatures — fairies, a faun, the unforgettable Pale Man, with eyes in the palms of his hands — reveal a world of deeper and darker enchantment.
Noun
-
Jupiter, by comparison, is as much as 35 times denser than these two lightweights.
-
Jupiter, by comparison, is as much as 35 times denser than these two lightweights.
Verb
-
The countywide legislation halts zoning and permitting processes for data centers and BESS sites in unincorporated areas of Jackson County for 180 days, which sponsor Sean Smith and other legislators have said will create time for the county to set more detailed permanent land use policies.
-
But the publishing machine never quite halts, and the coming months do star a (smaller) collection of exciting new releases.
Noun
-
Two years ago, the Man City phenom appeared in a 90-second spot for the game that saw him get recruited to storm a castle teeming with goblins, dragons and impish skeletons.
-
Follow the babe with the power into Jim Henson’s gloriously weird fantasy wonderland, where goblins sing, doors argue, and David Bowie’s Goblin King serves enough glam-rock charisma to power an entire kingdom.
Cite this Entry
“Dwarfs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dwarfs. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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