as in diminutive
having a small and thin body
—usually used to describe a woman or girl
She's petite and has short black hair. a petite young woman
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of petite
With all sizes from petite to souper available, there’s an option here to suit practically any dog.
—
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2026
For the Escarrias—petite sisters of African descent born ten months apart in Cali, Colombia—commercial photography was in their family DNA.
—Bryan Barcena, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Hazel was a petite girl with large, intense eyes.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Choose from three washes—black, navy, and cornflower blue—in standard, petite, and tall lengths.
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for petite
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2026
For the Escarrias—petite sisters of African descent born ten months apart in Cali, Colombia—commercial photography was in their family DNA.
—Bryan Barcena, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Hazel was a petite girl with large, intense eyes.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Choose from three washes—black, navy, and cornflower blue—in standard, petite, and tall lengths.
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for petite
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petite
Adjective
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Similarly diminutive and affordable chicken wraps rolled out at Sonic and Popeyes.—
Yasmin Tayag,
The Atlantic,
3 Mar. 2026
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The diminutive guard is a terrific athlete who can sky around the rim as well as burst his way by opposing defenders.—
Sam Vecenie,
New York Times,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The upstairs room, a supper club, is smallish and cheaply finished; the food is an afterthought, the party never-starting.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2026
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Most open up to a smallish balcony, just big enough for a book and coffee.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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This cute mini skort can be worn with any top already in your wardrobe, or with the Gap crop tank top as a matching set.—
Caroline Hughes,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
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The mini halter dress featured a plunging cowl neckline and a thigh-bearing asymmetrical skirt.—
Meg Walters,
InStyle,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Olah is a boyish, elfin prodigy who, at nineteen, met Amodei on his first visit to the Bay Area.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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That effort also brought back the rare frosted elfin butterfly for the first time in decades.—
Diana Stralberg,
The Conversation,
17 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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For smaller yards, consider dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties, such as the disease-resistant Baldwin apple.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
22 Feb. 2026
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These dwarf galaxies provide a unique laboratory for studying black hole formation and early evolution, thanks to their relatively quiet merger histories compared to those of massive galaxies.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The next, a multi-course tasting menu featuring teriyaki king oyster mushrooms and springbok carpaccio with wasabi aioli and micro radish.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
9 Mar. 2026
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Microhistory was really a point of departure in thinking about how micro events, or things that are very small in scale, can really prompt other things.—
Lisa Deaderick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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These tiny emitters resemble miniature ski jumps that launch beams of light into free space.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Mar. 2026
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Unlike crustaceans, insects developed a system of oxygen intake through tiny holes in their bodies.—
Andrew Coletti,
Popular Science,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Although discrepancies are smaller in data-rich regions such as Western Europe and the eastern United States, where robust local monitoring has kept projections more closely calibrated, the study identifies the West Coast of North America as a region where sea levels have also been underestimated.—
Marcos Magaña,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
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Violas have smaller flowers and stay shorter.—
Chris McKeown,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
7 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Petite.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petite. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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