Word · CEFR A1 · Frequency #168
small
小的；少的
small in size, amount, or degree
- 1.
Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.
不大或不大；无关紧要；数量少
- 2.
Young, as a child.
年轻,如小孩
- 3.
Minuscule or lowercase, referring to written or printed letters.
微小或小写,指书写或印刷的字母
- 4.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
数量、量、大小或范围有限或低于平均水平
- 5.
Evincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; paltry; mean.
显示出很少价值或能力；不大度；微不足道；卑鄙
- 6.
Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short.
持续时间不长；时间不长；短暂
- 7.
Synonym of little (“of an industry or institution(s) therein: operating on a small scale, unlike larger counterparts”).
小规模经营的行业或机构,与较大的同行不同
年幼的；短暂的；小写的；卑鄙的；小气的；小规模的
In use
This jacket is too small for me; I need a larger size.
She added only a small amount of sugar to the coffee.
Their new apartment is smaller than their old one.
a small car
a little (or small) group
small enough to do sth
enough 修饰形容词时放在其后，表示‘足够……以至于能……’。
The portable speaker is small enough to fit in my pocket.
这个便携音箱小得可以放进口袋。
too small to do sth
too...to... 表示‘太……而不能……’。
The font is too small to read comfortably.
字体太小了，看起来不舒服。
Connections
Collocations
- small business
- 小企业
- She started a small business selling handmade crafts.她开了一家卖手工艺品的小企业。
- small amount
- 少量
- Add a small amount of salt to the soup.往汤里加少量盐。
- small change
- 零钱
- Do you have any small change for the parking meter?你有零钱付停车费吗？
- small talk
- 闲聊
- We made some small talk while waiting for the meeting.等开会的时候我们闲聊了几句。
- small intestine
- 小肠
- Nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine.营养在小肠中被吸收。
- small town
- 小镇
Learner notes
Memory Tip
mall 是大商场，small 比它多一个 s，却“小”得多。看到 small 就想到：商场太大，只取一角便小。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：日常对话、书面说明 small 作形容词表示“小的”时，在口语和书面语中都很常见，通常不带明显语体倾向，因此标为中性。若指具体尺寸或数量，两种场合均可使用；修饰抽象名词（如 small chance）或数据（如 a small increase）时也自然。
Grammar Note
Gradable adjective; comparative 'smaller', superlative 'smallest'.
Pronunciation & Spelling
Genuine sound matches for the given /smoːl/ (vowel /oːl/): none among common words. The six listed words share the spelling '-all' but are pronounced /ɔːl/ in standard English, so they are useful lookalikes that sound different; beware also 'smell' (/smɛl/) and 'shall' (/ʃæl/).
High-value vocabulary
该词属于 Oxford 核心词汇，值得优先掌握常见搭配和句型。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 5，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WORDNET.