Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A very small person or being.
  • adjective Very small; diminutive.
  • adjective Trivial; petty.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to Lilliput, an imaginary kingdom described in Swift's “Travels of Lemuel Gulliver,” or to its people, feigned to be pygmies about six inches high.
  • Hence Of minute size.
  • noun An inhabitant of the imaginary kingdom of Lilliput.
  • noun A person of diminutive size; a very small dwarf.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the imaginary island of Lilliput described by Swift, or to its inhabitants.
  • adjective Of very small size; diminutive; insignificant; dwarfed.
  • noun One belonging to a very diminutive race described in Swift's “Voyage to Lilliput” or “Gulliver's Travels”.
  • noun A person or thing of very small size.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative form of lilliputian.
  • adjective Alternative form of lilliputian.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a very small person (resembling a Lilliputian)
  • adjective tiny; relating to or characteristic of the imaginary country of Lilliput
  • adjective very small
  • noun a 6-inch tall inhabitant of Lilliput in a novel by Jonathan Swift
  • adjective (informal) small and of little importance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Lilliput, a country in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, where everything was diminutive.]

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Examples

  • They therefore present what he calls a Lilliputian challenge to unguided Darwinism; if he is right, they present it with a Gargantuan challenge as well.

    Religion and Science Plantinga, Alvin 2007

  • How many times the height of a Lilliputian was the body of Gulliver as he lay on the ground?

    Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 10 The Guide Charles Herbert Sylvester

  • They are noted for having the hind legs much longer than the fore ones -- in fact, being shaped very much like the kangaroos -- of which they might be termed Lilliputian varieties, were it not that they lack the pouch, which distinguishes these curious creatures.

    Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys Mayne Reid 1850

  • A young company called Lilliputian Systems has developed handheld chargers for mobile devices.

    NYT > Home Page By SUSAN HOCKFIELD 2011

  • It sounds weird, but Liverpudlian reminds me of "Lilliputian" for some reason.

    Japanese government internet TV mj 2008

  • Whether his Charlesbourg (then called Bourg Royal) castle was used as the receptacle of some of his most valuable booty, or whether it was merely a kind of Lilliputian _Parc au

    Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present 1868

  • 'Lilliputian' applies equally well to any small-minded, petty obsession of the kind that Conservatives strive to rise above, so I'd still consider it a conservative term.

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] Aschlafly 2010

  • 'Lilliputian' applies equally well to any small-minded, petty obsession of the kind that Conservatives strive to rise above, so I'd still consider it a conservative term.

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • 'Lilliputian' applies equally well to any small-minded, petty obsession of the kind that Conservatives strive to rise above, so I'd still consider it a conservative term.

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • 'Lilliputian' applies equally well to any small-minded, petty obsession of the kind that Conservatives strive to rise above, so I'd still consider it a conservative term.

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] Maquissar 2010

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