as in diminutive
of a size that is less than average
a pygmy elephant
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also pigmy
1
as in dwarf
something (such as an animal) much smaller than others of its kind
hummingbirds may be the pygmies of the avian world, but what they lack in size they make up for in beauty
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cipher
a person of no importance or influence
regrettably, most of the candidates for the party's nomination that year were political pygmies
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pygmy
Erin Gifford, Southern Living, 19 Jan. 2026
Other rattlesnakes found as far north as Denton County include the timber rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake and massasauga rattlesnake, Pandelis said.
—Miriam Fauzia, Dallas Morning News, 14 Jan. 2026
Trek through the Danum Valley rainforest, cruise the Kinabatangan River, and spot orangutans and pygmy elephants.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 31 Dec. 2025
Around 61,000 years ago, the pygmy elephant population crashed, robbing the hobbits of their most critical food source just as the environment began to fail.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 29 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pygmy
Noun
The zoo is home to more than 200 animals, including lemurs, llamas, kangaroos, and pygmy goats.
—Erin Gifford, Southern Living, 19 Jan. 2026
Other rattlesnakes found as far north as Denton County include the timber rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake and massasauga rattlesnake, Pandelis said.
—Miriam Fauzia, Dallas Morning News, 14 Jan. 2026
Trek through the Danum Valley rainforest, cruise the Kinabatangan River, and spot orangutans and pygmy elephants.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 31 Dec. 2025
Around 61,000 years ago, the pygmy elephant population crashed, robbing the hobbits of their most critical food source just as the environment began to fail.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 29 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pygmy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pygmy
Adjective
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Wearing a skin-tight black leather jumpsuit and futuristic sunglasses, with her tiny chihuahua, Pilaf, in her arms, the entire look felt straight from The Matrix, if that franchise added the character of a diminutive dog to the mix.—
Séraphine Roger,
Vanity Fair,
28 Feb. 2026
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Set a century before the events of Game of Thrones and 72 years after House of the Dragon, A Knight of Seven Kingdom follows two unlikely heroes wandering Westeros … a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), and his diminutive squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell).—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Low-growing dwarf varieties like ‘Goldflame’ feature yellow to orange foliage that complements crepe myrtle’s dark green leaves, while ‘Magic Carpet’ can be planted to form a lush border of hot pink blooms.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
23 Feb. 2026
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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
Noun
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The still-unidentified Zodiac Killer, who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s, frequently sent threats, demands and ciphers to multiple local papers — namely the San Francisco Chronicle.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
21 Feb. 2026
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Finally, Marilyn is not presented as a cipher to be solved or quarry to be caged.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Published in the journal Matter, the underlying mechanisms behind the inferior photochemical of polymer acceptor and develops a method to enhance both efficiency and stability through small-molecule incorporation.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Feb. 2026
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February storms brought fresh snow to the Sierra Nevada, but California’s snowpack remains far smaller than average during a winter that has brought record warmth across much of the West.—
Ian James,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Bolles made toy cars to be donated to children in Mexico, delivered personally by a local Santa Claus.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Keanu Reeves is back as Canadian daredevil toy Duke Caboom.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Seattle’s John Schneider and New England’s Eliot Wolf rose up from young nobodies to graduate from Green Bay Packers University, too.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
7 Feb. 2026
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Many of Newsom’s critics who breathlessly report on his evil plans (that the left-wing mainstream media supposedly cover up) are just nobodies who feign authority and are obviously fronting for right-wing organizations.—
Dan Walters,
Oc Register,
16 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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After that 12-day war in June, Tehran was left with little negotiating leverage, its nuclear facilities heavily damaged, its proxies nearly neutralized and its economy in tatters.—
Abbas Al Lawati,
CNN Money,
1 Mar. 2026
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Leading by five goals in Honduras after 45 minutes allowed for a full-strength performance over Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and little concern in the second leg against Real España, rotating numerous players ahead of the spring trip to Texas.—
Josh Gross,
Daily News,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Detectives opened the front trunk of the car and saw a cadaver bag covered with insects, the documents say.—
Kyung Lah,
CNN Money,
26 Feb. 2026
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Alna shows there were very small alvarezsaurs without an insect-eating specialization, and that size reduction evolved multiple times in this lineage, Apesteguía said.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pygmy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pygmy. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
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