Phrase guide

a little

adv · det · pron · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

adv

Meaning 1

To a small extent or degree.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • The door was opened a little.
  • Helping not a little was a squad of volunteers.
  • How are you feeling? ~ A little better, thanks.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: a bit, a little bit, a tad

Antonyms: a lot, a tad

2

adv

Meaning 2

Slightly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • She's a little strange, but nice enough.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: a bit, a little, a little bit, a mite, a smidgen, a smidgeon, a tad, a touch, a trifle, barely, closely, faintly, hardly, imperceptibly, just, kinda, kinda sorta, kind of, low-key, marginally, mildly, modestly, nearly, only just, scarcely, slightly, somewhat, sorta, sorta kinda, sort of

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

Very.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, not-comparable

Examples

  • It's a little big, don't you think?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adv

Meaning 4

A lot.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adv

Meaning 5

A lot of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, not-comparable

Examples

  • It could do with a little work, that's for sure.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

det

Meaning 6

A small amount of (an uncountable thing).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • A little water has spilled.
  • All we need is a little time and money to carry this idea to fruition.
  • All that is left is a little bacon and a few eggs.
  • I've been starting to get a little pain in both knees.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: zero, no, a lot of, much

Broader terms: any, some

7

pron

Meaning 7

A small amount of an uncountable thing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • "Would you like some water?" "Just a little, please."
  • I’ll have a little of what you order.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adverb

Meaning 8

to a small degree; somewhat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it's a bit warm
  • felt a little better
  • a trifle smaller

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: a bit, a trifle

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

198 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: pak — to a small extent or degree
  • Southern Altai: азулак (azulak) — to a small extent or degree
  • Arabic: قَلِيلًا (qalīlan) — to a small extent or degree
  • Algerian Arabic: شوية — to a small extent or degree
  • Arabic: شوية (šuwayya) — to a small extent or degree
  • Tunisian Arabic: دوبلاش (dūbillāš) — to a small extent or degree
  • Armenian: մի քիչ (mi kʻičʻ) — to a small extent or degree
  • Azerbaijani: bir az — to a small extent or degree
  • Azerbaijani: azca — to a small extent or degree
  • Azerbaijani: bir damcı — to a small extent or degree
  • Belarusian: тро́хі (tróxi) — to a small extent or degree
  • Belarusian: кры́ху́ (krýxú) — to a small extent or degree
  • Belarusian: няшма́т (njašmát) — to a small extent or degree
  • Belarusian: нямно́га (njamnóha) — to a small extent or degree
  • Bengali: সামান্য (śamanno) — to a small extent or degree
  • Bulgarian: ма́лко (málko) — to a small extent or degree
  • Burmese: နည်းနည်း (nany:nany:) — to a small extent or degree
  • Burmese: စိုးစဉ်း (cui:cany:) — to a small extent or degree
  • Burmese: တစိ (ta.ci.) — to a small extent or degree
  • Burmese: အနည်းငယ် (a.nany:ngai) — to a small extent or degree
  • Catalan: una mica — to a small extent or degree
  • Catalan: poc — to a small extent or degree
  • Cherokee: ᏍᏗᎩᏓ (sdigida) — to a small extent or degree
  • Chinese: йидяр (yidiar) — to a small extent or degree
  • Chinese Mandarin: 一點兒 /一点儿 (yīdiǎnr) — to a small extent or degree
  • Chinese Mandarin: 一點 /一点 (yīdiǎn) — to a small extent or degree
  • Chinese Mandarin: 有點 /有点 (yǒudiǎn) — to a small extent or degree
  • Czech: trochu — to a small extent or degree
  • Danish: lidt — to a small extent or degree
  • Danish: en smule (lille) — to a small extent or degree
  • Dutch: een beetje — to a small extent or degree
  • Dutch: wat — to a small extent or degree
  • Esperanto: iom — to a small extent or degree
  • Esperanto: iomete — to a small extent or degree
  • Estonian: veidi — to a small extent or degree
  • Estonian: pisut — to a small extent or degree
  • Faroese: sindur — to a small extent or degree
  • Finnish: hieman — to a small extent or degree
  • Finnish: hiukan — to a small extent or degree
  • Finnish: vähän — to a small extent or degree
  • Finnish: pikkuisen — to a small extent or degree
  • French: un peu — to a small extent or degree
  • West-Frisian: snjitsje — to a small extent or degree
  • Galician: un pouco — to a small extent or degree
  • Georgian: ცოტა (coṭa) — to a small extent or degree
  • German: ein bisschen — to a small extent or degree
  • German: ein wenig — to a small extent or degree
  • German: etwas — to a small extent or degree
  • Greek: λίγο (lígo) — to a small extent or degree
  • Ancient Greek: ὀλίγον (olígon) — to a small extent or degree
  • Ancient Greek: μικρῷ (mikrōî) — to a small extent or degree
  • Ancient Greek: ἦκα (êka) — to a small extent or degree
  • Hebrew: קְצָת (k'tsát) — to a small extent or degree
  • Hiligaynon: diotay — to a small extent or degree
  • Hiligaynon: gamay — to a small extent or degree
  • Hindi: थोड़ी-थोड़ी (thoṛī-thoṛī) — to a small extent or degree
  • Hindi: थोड़ा सा (thoṛā sā) — to a small extent or degree
  • Hindi: थोड़ा-थोड़ा (thoṛā-thoṛā) — to a small extent or degree
  • Hindi: ज़रा (zarā) — to a small extent or degree
  • Hindi: थोड़ा (thoṛā) — to a small extent or degree
  • Hindi: कम (kam) — to a small extent or degree
  • White Hmong: mentsis — to a small extent or degree
  • Hungarian: egy kicsit — to a small extent or degree
  • Hungarian: kicsit — to a small extent or degree
  • Icelandic: smá — to a small extent or degree
  • Icelandic: svolítið — to a small extent or degree
  • Ido: poke — to a small extent or degree
  • Indonesian: sedikit — to a small extent or degree
  • Irish: rud beag — to a small extent or degree
  • Italian: un po' — to a small extent or degree
  • Italian: un poco — to a small extent or degree
  • Japanese: ちょっと (chotto) — to a small extent or degree
  • Japanese: 少し (sukoshi) — to a small extent or degree
  • Kazakh: азғана (azğana) — to a small extent or degree
  • Kazakh: азғантай (azğantai) — to a small extent or degree
  • Kazakh: аздап (azdap) — to a small extent or degree
  • Kazakh: біраз (bıraz) — to a small extent or degree
  • Khmer: បន្តិច (bɑɑbɑntəc) — to a small extent or degree
  • Korean: 조금 (jogeum) — to a small extent or degree
  • Korean: 좀 (jom) — to a small extent or degree
  • Korean: 약간 (yakgan) — to a small extent or degree
  • Kyrgyz: кичине (kicine) — to a small extent or degree
  • Kyrgyz: бир аз (bir az) — to a small extent or degree
  • Lao: ຫນ່ອຍນຶ່ງ (nǭi nưng) — to a small extent or degree
  • Latin: paulum — to a small extent or degree
  • Latvian: nedaudz — to a small extent or degree
  • Lithuanian: truputį — to a small extent or degree
  • Low German: een Kitsken — to a small extent or degree
  • Low German: een Tik — to a small extent or degree
  • Luxembourgish: e bëssen — to a small extent or degree
  • Macedonian: ма́лку (málku) — to a small extent or degree
  • Macedonian: не́колку (nékolku) — to a small extent or degree
  • Malay: sedikit — to a small extent or degree
  • Malayalam: കുറച്ച് (kuṟaccŭ) — to a small extent or degree
  • Malayalam: അല്പം (alpaṁ) — to a small extent or degree
  • Malayalam: ഒരല്പം (oralpaṁ) — to a small extent or degree
  • Mongolian: -хан (-xan) — to a small extent or degree
  • Mongolian: арай (araj) — to a small extent or degree
  • Nepali: अलिकति (alikati) — to a small extent or degree
  • Nepali: इत्ति (itti) — to a small extent or degree
  • Nepali: थोरै (thorai) — to a small extent or degree
  • Norman: un brîn — to a small extent or degree
  • Norwegian Bokmål: litt — to a small extent or degree
  • Ojibwe: bangii — to a small extent or degree
  • Old Turkic: 𐰀𐰕 — to a small extent or degree
  • Pashto: لږ (lëģ) — to a small extent or degree
  • Persian: خرده (xorde) — to a small extent or degree
  • Persian: کمی (kami) — to a small extent or degree
  • Persian: یک کم (yek kam) — to a small extent or degree
  • Persian: یک کمی (yek kami) — to a small extent or degree
  • Persian: یه کمی (ye kami) — to a small extent or degree
  • Polish: trochę — to a small extent or degree
  • Polish: mało — to a small extent or degree
  • Portuguese: um pouco — to a small extent or degree
  • Romanian: puțin — to a small extent or degree
  • Romanian: un pic — to a small extent or degree
  • Russian: немно́го (nemnógo) — to a small extent or degree
  • Russian: чуть-чу́ть (čutʹ-čútʹ) — to a small extent or degree
  • Russian: чу́точку (čútočku) — to a small extent or degree
  • Russian: слегка (slexka) — to a small extent or degree
  • Russian: немножечко (nemnožečko) — to a small extent or degree
  • Russian: немножко (nemnožko) — to a small extent or degree
  • Scottish Gaelic: caran — to a small extent or degree
  • Serbo-Croatian: malko — to a small extent or degree
  • Serbo-Croatian: мало — to a small extent or degree
  • Serbo-Croatian: malo — to a small extent or degree
  • Slovak: trochu — to a small extent or degree
  • Slovak: trošku — to a small extent or degree
  • Slovene: malo — to a small extent or degree
  • Lower Sorbian: tšochu — to a small extent or degree
  • Spanish: un poco — to a small extent or degree
  • Spanish: un poquito — to a small extent or degree
  • Spanish: pelín — to a small extent or degree
  • Swahili: kidogo — to a small extent or degree
  • Swedish: lite — to a small extent or degree
  • Swedish: lite grann — to a small extent or degree
  • Tagalog: kaunti — to a small extent or degree
  • Tagalog: onti — to a small extent or degree
  • Tagalog: medyo — to a small extent or degree
  • Tajik: каме (kame) — to a small extent or degree
  • Tajik: камтар (kamtar) — to a small extent or degree
  • Talysh: کمی (kami) — to a small extent or degree
  • Tamil: சற்று (caṟṟu) — to a small extent or degree
  • Tamil: சிறு (ciṟu) — to a small extent or degree
  • Tamil: சிறிய (ciṟiya) — to a small extent or degree
  • Tamil: கொஞ்சம் (koñcam) — to a small extent or degree
  • Thai: หน่อย (nɔ̀i) — to a small extent or degree
  • Thai: นิดหน่อย (nít-nɔ̀i) — to a small extent or degree
  • Tibetan: ཏོག་ཙམ (tog tsam) — to a small extent or degree
  • Turkish: biraz — to a small extent or degree
  • Turkish: çok az — to a small extent or degree
  • Turkish: azıcık — to a small extent or degree
  • Turkish: az — to a small extent or degree
  • Turkmen: biraz — to a small extent or degree
  • Udi: пӏатӏар (ṗaṭar) — to a small extent or degree
  • Ukrainian: тро́хи (tróxy) — to a small extent or degree
  • Ukrainian: трі́шки (tríšky) — to a small extent or degree
  • Urdu: ذرا (zarā) — to a small extent or degree
  • Urdu: تھوڑا سا (thoṛā sā) — to a small extent or degree
  • Urdu: کم (kam) — to a small extent or degree
  • Uzbek: ozgina — to a small extent or degree
  • Uzbek: oz — to a small extent or degree
  • Vietnamese: một ít — to a small extent or degree
  • Vietnamese: ít — to a small extent or degree
  • Vietnamese: một chút — to a small extent or degree
  • Vietnamese: hơi — to a small extent or degree
  • Walloon: ene miete — to a small extent or degree
  • Walloon: on pô — to a small extent or degree
  • Welsh: ychydig — to a small extent or degree
  • Welsh: tipyn — to a small extent or degree
  • Wolof: tuuti — to a small extent or degree
  • Yiddish: אַ ביסל (a bisl) — to a small extent or degree
  • Zhuang: loq — to a small extent or degree
  • Spanish: un poco de — determiner
  • Basque: pixka bat — a small amount
  • Bulgarian: малко (malko) — a small amount
  • Finnish: vähän — a small amount
  • Finnish: hieman — a small amount
  • Finnish: hiukan — a small amount
  • Finnish: pikkuisen — a small amount
  • German: ein bisschen — a small amount
  • Hungarian: egy kis — a small amount
  • Hungarian: egy kevés — a small amount
  • Hungarian: egy kicsi — a small amount
  • Hungarian: némi — a small amount
  • Hungarian: egy keveset — a small amount
  • Hungarian: egy kicsit — a small amount
  • Malayalam: അല്പം (alpaṁ) — a small amount
  • Malayalam: കുറച്ച് (kuṟaccŭ) — a small amount
  • Malayalam: ലേശം (lēśaṁ) — a small amount
  • Plautdietsch: Bät — a small amount
  • Romanian: puțin — a small amount
  • Romanian: un pic de — a small amount
  • Spanish: un pelín — a small amount
  • Spanish: un chin — a small amount
  • Tamil: கொஞ்சம் (koñcam) — a small amount
  • Telugu: కొంచెం (koñceṁ) — a small amount
  • Uzbek: ozgina — a small amount