Origin: 1500-1600 French petit small used for feminine nouns
Thesaurus
THESAURUSnot large►small
not large in size or amount: Rick has a small car. This T-shirt is too small for me.
►little
small in size: Her shirt had little hearts on the front.
►petite
small, short, and thin in an attractive way. Used about women and girls: Chuck is 6 feet tall, but he has always dated petite women.
►compact
small, but comfortable, convenient, or easy to carry. Used about cars and other products that usually come in larger sizes: Compact cars are much easier to park.
►tiny
very small: She was holding a tiny baby in her arms.
►miniature
very small. Used about things that are normally a larger size: He makes miniature furniture for dollhouses.
►diminutive
formal very small. Used especially about people: A diminutive man with a bow tie stood behind the desk.
►minute/minuscule
extremely small: Even in minute amounts, the chemical is very harmful.
►microscopic
extremely small and impossible to see without a scientific tool called a microscope: The microscopic cells in your body that absorb food are called microvilli.
1a petite woman is short and attractively thin ► see thesaurus at small12small and delicate: petite hands