as in small
of a size that is less than average
a smallish row of bushes lining the yard
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Recent Examples of smallish
Their father, George Atkinson, spent his entire career playing an aggressive, menacing style of football that belied his smallish 6-foot, 180-pound frame.
—
Jon Becker, Mercury News, 27 Oct. 2025
This season, Yamamoto has demonstrated not only consistency but also durability, no minor feat considering his smallish frame.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
The payout is often electronic, although smallish amounts can be in cash.
—Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2025
Other than Costner, the show was largely populated with relatively unknown actors — Costner was clearly the big fish in this smallish pond.
—Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025
An audience that paid $300-600 for tickets to see him in an uncharacteristically smallish venue would have expected — and got — a little more for their money than that.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 27 Sep. 2025
The building has kept some of this lightness of feeling all these years later, smallish and airy, its multiple exits and entrances providing the possibility of spontaneity.
—Katie Da Cunha Lewin
september 26, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
Because of its smallish size, Kentucky’s capital (population 28,000) is a city where neighborliness and politics go hand in hand.
—Robin Roenker, Southern Living, 13 Sep. 2025
Even though this smallish island was a fraction of the size of France, its capital markets enabled it to successfully finance its global contest with France, whose crude financial system was a severe handicap in financing those wars.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Jon Becker, Mercury News, 27 Oct. 2025
This season, Yamamoto has demonstrated not only consistency but also durability, no minor feat considering his smallish frame.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
The payout is often electronic, although smallish amounts can be in cash.
—Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2025
Other than Costner, the show was largely populated with relatively unknown actors — Costner was clearly the big fish in this smallish pond.
—Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025
An audience that paid $300-600 for tickets to see him in an uncharacteristically smallish venue would have expected — and got — a little more for their money than that.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 27 Sep. 2025
The building has kept some of this lightness of feeling all these years later, smallish and airy, its multiple exits and entrances providing the possibility of spontaneity.
—Katie Da Cunha Lewin
september 26, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
Because of its smallish size, Kentucky’s capital (population 28,000) is a city where neighborliness and politics go hand in hand.
—Robin Roenker, Southern Living, 13 Sep. 2025
Even though this smallish island was a fraction of the size of France, its capital markets enabled it to successfully finance its global contest with France, whose crude financial system was a severe handicap in financing those wars.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smallish
Adjective
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Palantir’s revenue figures are still quite small compared to peers of similar market capitalization.—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Contractors working on the project recently completed pouring the foundation for what will provide smaller housing units meant to make quarantining detainees with communicable illnesses safer and easier.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Spanning 828 square feet, the diminutive house stands a block and a half from Long Branch Beach.—
Katie Schultz,
Architectural Digest,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Tyrannosaurus rex did, in fact, have a diminutive relative in North America.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Wet and dry fronts, prevailing winds, moisture and vapour, meeting, as luck would have it, exactly at the top of that big mountain on the little island.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
-
But the shutdown has turned most parks into ghost towns, with little to no staffing or access to amenities and facilities.—
Aysha Bagchi,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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From breezing through paperwork to avoiding unnecessary airport delays, this tiny travel hero proves that sometimes the simplest tools are the most important.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
2 Nov. 2025
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But the movie only gives tiny little tastes of 1982 rock culture, and why Nebraska was so comically unsuitable for airplay.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smallish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smallish. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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