N. smallness, littleness,
tenuity,
paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance) 643,
mediocrity,
moderation, small quantity,
modicum, trace,
hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point,
atom, particle, molecule,
corpuscle, point,
speck,
dot,
mote,
jot,
iota,
ace,
minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon,
dab,
dight,
whit,
tittle, shade, shadow,
spark,
scintilla,
gleam, touch, cast, grain,
scruple,
granule,
globule,
minim,
sup,
sip,
sop,
spice, drop,
droplet,
sprinkling,
dash,
morceau,
screed,
smack,
tinge,
tincture, inch,
patch,
scantling,
tatter,
cantlet,
flitter,
gobbet,
mite,
bit,
morsel,
crumb, seed,
fritter,
shive,
snip,
snippet,
snick,
snack,
snatch, slip,
scrag,
chip,
chipping,
shiver,
sliver,
driblet,
clipping, paring,
shaving, hair,
nutshell,
thimbleful,
spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean,
animalcule,
trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity
V. be small, lie in a nutshell, diminish, (contract) 195
Adj. small, little,
diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable,
paltry,
faint, slender, light, slight, scanty,
scant, limited,
meager,
sparing, few, low,
so-so, middling,
tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb,
halfway, moderate, modest, tender,
subtle,
inappreciable,
evanescent,
infinitesimal,
homeopathic, very small,
atomic,
corpuscular,
microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer,
stark, bare, near run, dull, petty,
shallow,
stolid, ungifted, unintelligent
Adv. to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly,
imperceptibly,
miserably,
wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly,
faintly,
passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly,
well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about,
thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand
Phr. dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, "small sands the mountain, moments make the year", quantity by comparison with a similar object
N. shallowness, shoals, mere scratch, #
Adj. shallow, slight, superficial, skin deep, ankle deep, knee deep, just enough to wet one's feet,
shoal,
shoaly N. ignorance,
nescience, tabula rasa, crass ignorance, ignorance crasse,
unfamiliarity, unacquaintance, unconsciousness, darkness, blindness,
incomprehension, inexperience, simplicity, unknown quantities, x, y, z, sealed book, terra incognita, virgin soil, unexplored ground, dark ages,
smattering,
sciolism,
glimmering,
dilettantism,
bewilderment, incapacity,
pedantry,
charlatanry, charlatism,
philister,
philistine V. be ignorant, not know, know not, know not what, know nothing of, have no idea, have no notion, have no conception, not have the remotest idea, not know chalk from cheese,
ignore, be blind to, keep in ignorance, see through a glass darkly, have a film over the eyes, have a glimmering, wonder whether, not know what to make of, not pretend to take upon, not take upon one self to say
Adj. ignorant, nescient, unknowing, unaware, unacquainted,
unapprised, unapprized,
unwitting, unweeting|, unconscious, witless,
weetless, a stranger to,
unconversant, uninformed, uncultivated, unversed,
uninstructed, untaught,
uninitiated, untutored, unschooled, misguided,
unenlightened,
philistine, behind the age,
shallow, superficial, green, rude, empty,
half-learned,
illiterate, unread, uninformed, uneducated, unlearned, unlettered,
unbookish, empty- headed,
dizzy, wooly-headed,
pedantic, in the dark,
benighted,
belated, blinded,
blindfolded, hoodwinked, misinformed, au bout de son latin, at the end of his tether, at fault, at sea, caught tripping, unknown,
unapprehended, unexplained, unascertained, uninvestigated,
unexplored, unheard of, not perceived, concealed, novel
Adv. ignorantly, unawares, for anything, for aught one knows, not that one knows
Phr. "ignorance never settles a question", quantum animis erroris inest, [Ovid], "small latin and less greek", "that unlettered small-knowing soul", "there is no darkness but ignorance"
Int. god knows, heaven knows, the lord knows, who knows, nobody knows
N. ignoramus,
dunce, wooden spoon, no scholar, # moron,
imbecile,
idiot,
fool,
jerk,
nincompoop, asshole,
dilettante,
sciolist,
smatterer,
dabbler, half scholar,
charlatan,
wiseacre,
greenhorn,
amateur,
novice,
tyro,
numskull,
lubber,
fool,
pedant Adj. bookless, shallow, ignorant
Phr. "a wit with dunces and a dunce with wits"
N. want of -intelligence, want of - intellect, shadowness,
silliness,
foolishness,
imbecility, incapacity, vacancy of mind, poverty of intellect, weakness of intellect, clouded perception, poor head, apartments to let,
stupidity,
stolidity,
hebetude, dull understanding, meanest capacity, shortsightedness,
incompetence, one's weak side, not one's strong point,
bias,
infatuation, simplicity,
puerility,
babyhood,
dotage,
anility, second childishness,
fatuity,
idiocy,
idiotism,
driveling, folly,
frivolity,
irrationality, trifling,
ineptitude,
nugacity,
inconsistency, lip wisdom,
conceit,
sophistry,
giddiness,
eccentricity,
extravagance,
rashness, act of folly, b, be - imbecile, have no -brains, have no sense,
trifle,
drivel, radoter,
dote,
ramble, play the fool, play the monkey, monkey around, fool around, take leave of one's senses (insanity) 503, not see an inch beyond one's nose, stultify oneself, talk nonsense
Adj. unintelligent, unintellectual, unreasoning, mindless, witless, reasoningless, brainless, halfbaked, having no head, not -bright,
inapprehensible, weak headed, addle headed, puzzle headed, blunder headed, muddle headed, muddy headed, pig headed, beetle headed, buffle headed, chuckle headed, mutton headed, maggoty headed, grossheaded, beef headed, fat witted, fat-headed,
weak-minded,
feeble-minded, dull minded, shallow minded, lack-brained,
rattle-brained, rattle headed, half witted, lean witted, short witted, dull witted,
blunt-witted,
shallow-pated, clod-pated, addle- pated,
dim-sighted, short-sighted,
thick-skulled, weak in the upper story,
shallow, borne, weak, wanting, soft,
sappy,
spoony, dull, dull as a beetle,
stupid, heavy,
insulse,
obtuse,
blunt,
stolid,
doltish,
asinine, inapt,
prosaic, hebetudinous,
childish, child-like,
infantine,
infantile,
babyish,
babish,
puerile,
anile, simple,
old-womanish,
fatuous,
idiotic,
imbecile,
driveling,
blatant,
babbling,
vacant,
sottish,
bewildered,
blockish, unteachable boeotian, boeotic,
bovine, ungifted,
undiscerning,
unenlightened, unwise, unphilosophical,
apish, simious,
foolish,
silly, senseless,
irrational,
insensate,
nonsensical,
inept,
maudlin,
narrow-minded,
bigoted,
giddy,
rash,
eccentric,
foolish, unwise,
injudicious, improper, unreasonable, without reason,
ridiculous,
absurd,
idiotic,
silly,
stupid,
asinine, ill-imagined, ill-advised,
ill-judged, ill-devised, mal entendu, inconsistent,
irrational, unphilosophical,
extravagant,
sleeveless, idle, pointless, useless, inexpedient,
frivolous Phr. davus sum non, "a fool's bolt is soon shot" clitellae bovi sunt impositae, "fools rush in where angels fear to tread", il n' a ni bouche ni eperon, "the bookful blockhead, ignorantly read", "to varnish nonsense with the charms of sound"
N. unimportance, insignificance, nothingness,
immateriality,
triviality,
levity,
frivolity,
paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything,
nonentity, small beer,
cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel,
toy,
plaything,
popgun, paper pellet,
gimcrack,
gewgaw,
bauble,
trinket,
bagatelle, rickshaw,
knickknack, whim-wham,
trifle, "trifles light as air", yankee notions,
trumpery,
trash,
rubbish, stuff, fatras,
frippery, "leather or prunello",
chaff,
drug, froth bubble smoke,
cobweb,
weed, refuse,
scum,
joke,
jest, snap of the fingers,
fudge,
fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig,
button,
rush,
bulrush,
feather, halfpenny,
farthing, brass farthing,
doit,
peppercorn,
jot,
rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill,
picayune,
pistareen, red cent,
minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean,
flea-bite,
molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing
V. be unimportant, not matter, go for nothing, matter nothing, signify nothing, matter little, matter little or nothing, not matter a straw, make light of, catch at straws
Adj. unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate,
mediocre, passable, fair, respectable,
tolerable,
commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable,
so-so, insignificant,
inappreciable, trifling,
trivial, slight, slender, light,
flimsy,
frothy, idle,
puerile,
airy,
shallow, weak, powerless,
frivolous, petty,
niggling,
piddling,
peddling,
fribble,
inane,
ridiculous,
farcical,
finical,
finikin,
fiddle-faddle, fingle- fangle,
namby-pamby,
wishy-washy, milk and water, poor,
paltry,
pitiful, contemptible,
sorry, mean,
meager,
shabby,
miserable,
wretched,
vile,
scrubby,
scrannel,
weedy,
niggardly,
scurvy,
putid,
beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny,
cheap,
trashy,
catchpenny,
gimcrack,
trumpery,
one-horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, 1 beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain
Adv. slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares
Int. no matter,
pish,
tush,
tut,
pshaw,
pugh,
pooh,
pooh-pooh,
fudge,
bosh,
humbug,
fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, fiddlededee, never mind, n'importe, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for' stuff and nonsense, stuff, nonsense, phr, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau