minute

1 including many small descriptive features a minute description of the setting of the story Synonyms blow-by-blow, circumstantial, elaborate, full, detailed, particular, particularized, thoroughRelated Words enumerated, inventoried, itemized, listed, numerated; delineated, specific, specified; abundant, copious; comprehensive, encyclopedic, exhausting, exhaustive, inclusionary, inclusive, in-depth, omnibus, panoramic, thoroughgoing; accurate, correct, exact, precise; complete, entire, replete; distinct, explicit, sharp; mapped (out); descriptive, graphic (also graphical), picturesque, vividNear Antonyms brief, compact, concise, crisp, pithy, short, succinct, terse; abbreviated, abridged, curtailed, cut, pruned, shortened, trimmed; ambiguous, indeterminate, nebulous, nondescript, sketchy, vague; bird's-eye, broad, general, nonspecific, overall, unspecifiedAntonyms compendious, summary

2 lacking importance a person who wastes her time on the most minute aspects of everyday life Synonyms fiddling, foolish, frivolous, incidental, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, little, Mickey Mouse, minor, unimportant, negligible, nugatory, slight, small, small-fry, trifling, trivialRelated Words jerkwater, one-horse; nickel-and-dime, paltry, petty, small-time, worthless; anonymous, nameless, obscure, uncelebrated, unknownNear Antonyms decisive, fatal, fateful; chief, dominant, overbearing, overmastering, overriding, principal; distinctive, exceptional, impressive, outstanding, prominent, remarkable; valuable, worthwhile, worthy; distinguished, eminent, great, illustrious, preeminent, prestigious; famous, notorious, renowned; all-important, basic, essential, fundamental, keyAntonyms big, consequential, eventful, important, major, material, meaningful, momentous, significant, substantial, unfrivolous, weighty

3 so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention only minute differences between the two photographic prints Synonyms chicken, de minimis, footling, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, measly, Mickey Mouse, negligible, niggling, no-account, nominal, paltry, peanut, petty, picayune, piddling, piddly, piffling, pimping, slight, trifling, trivialRelated Words inferior, mean; imperceptible, inappreciable; little, puny, tiny; hairsplitting, nitpicking, pettifogging, quibbling; one-horse, small-fry, two-bitNear Antonyms serious, substantial, weighty; eventful, momentous, pivotal; conspicuous, noteworthy, outstanding, prominent, remarkable, striking; appreciable, discernible (also discernable), measurableAntonyms big, consequential, considerable, important, material, significant

4 made or done with extreme care and accuracy a minute examination of the marine specimen Synonyms delicate, exact, finespun, hairline, hairsplitting, fine, nice, nuanced, refined, subtleRelated Words nitpicking, quibbling; frivolous, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, negligible, petty, piddling, trifling, trivial; demanding, exacting, fastidious, finical, finicking, finicky, fussy, meticulous, particular, pickyNear Antonyms apparent, clear, clear-cut, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable; broad, indefinite; careless, heedless, incautious, slapdash, slipshod, sloppyAntonyms coarse, inexact, rough

5 very small in size made some minute adjustments to the controls Synonyms atomic, bitsy, bitty, infinitesimal, itty-bitty (or itsy-bitsy), little bitty, microminiature, microscopic (also microscopical), miniature, minuscule, tiny, teensy, teensy-weensy, teeny, teeny-weeny, wee, weeny (also weensy)Related Words baby, diminutive, dwarf, elfin, half-pint, Lilliputian, little, micro, mini, minikin, model, petite, pocket, pocket-size (also pocket-sized), pygmy, small, smallish; dinky, dwarfish, insignificant, pint-size (or pint-sized), puny, scrubby, undersized (also undersize)Near Antonyms big, bulky, bumper, considerable, extensive, good, goodly, grand, great, gross, handsome, hefty, hulking, jumbo, king-size (or king-sized), large, largish, major, outsize (also outsized), overgrown, overscale (or overscaled), oversize (or oversized), sizable (or sizeable), substantial, super, whacking, whopping; formidable, grandiose, imposing, lofty, majestic, monolithic, staggering, stupendous, towering; boundless, cavernous, immeasurable, infinite, vast, vasty, voluminousAntonyms astronomical (also astronomic), colossal, cosmic (also cosmical), elephantine, enormous, giant, gigantic, herculean, heroic (also heroical), huge, immense, mammoth, massive, monster, monstrous, monumental, mountainous, planetary, prodigious, titanic, tremendous

a very small space of time I'll be with you in just a minute Synonyms beat, eyeblink, flash, heartbeat, jiff, jiffy, instant, moment, nanosecond, New York minute, second, shake, split second, trice, twinkle, twinkling, winkRelated Words microsecond; snatch, spurtNear Antonyms aeon (or eon), age, eternity, forever; infinity, lifetime