\ ˈdwȯrf
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plural dwarfs\ ˈdwȯrfs
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also dwarves\ ˈdwȯrvz
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also dwarves\ ˈdwȯrvz
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Definition of dwarf
(Entry 1 of 3)
1a
: a person of unusually small stature (see stature sense 1)
especially
: a person whose height does not exceed 4' 10" and is typically less than 4' 5"
b
: an insignificant person
a literary dwarf
2
: an animal or plant much below normal size
3
folklore
: a small legendary manlike being who is usually misshapen and ugly and skilled as a craftsman
4
astronomy
: a star (such as the sun) of ordinary or low luminosity and relatively small mass and size
dwarf
verb
dwarfed;
dwarfing;
dwarfs
Definition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 3)
1
: to restrict the growth of : stunt
children dwarfed by malnutrition
2
: to cause to appear smaller or to seem inferior
dwarfed by his older brother has dwarfed the achievements of her predecessors
: to become smaller
dwarf
adjectiveDefinition of dwarf (Entry 3 of 3)
of a plant
: low-growing in habit
a dwarf peach tree dwarfer forms of citrus
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Other Words from dwarf
Noun
dwarfish
\ ˈdwȯr-fish
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adjective
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adjective
dwarfishly
adverb
dwarfishness
noun
dwarflike
\ ˈdwȯrf-ˌlīk
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adjective
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adjective
dwarfness
\ ˈdwȯrf-nəs
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noun
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noun
Synonyms & Antonyms for dwarf
Synonyms: Noun
diminutive, midget, mite, peewee, pygmy (also pigmy), runt, scrub, shrimp, Tom Thumb
Synonyms: Verb
Antonyms: Noun
behemoth, colossus, giant, jumbo, leviathan, mammoth, monster, titan
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Examples of dwarf in a Sentence
Noun
Shetland ponies are the dwarfs of the horse world. Snow White and the seven dwarfs.Verb
shrubs dwarfed by the lack of water
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The planet, called LHS 3884b, is 49 light-years away in the Indus constellation, orbiting a cool M-dwarf star that's only about one-fifth the size of our sun. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "Like Mercury, a nearby 'lava world' is probably lacking an atmosphere," 19 Aug. 2019 This means that even though its M-dwarf star is roughly 40% cooler than our sun, the planet is in all likelihood searingly hot — probably 490 degrees Fahrenheit or so — even without the insulating effects of an atmosphere. — Los Angeles Times, "Astronomers found a planet where life might thrive, and it’s just 31 light-years away," 31 July 2019 On planets that formed around small, young M-dwarf stars, for instance, intense ultraviolet sunlight can in certain cases boil down the planet’s oceans, creating an atmosphere thick with water vapor. — Quanta Magazine, "Scientists Debate Signatures of Alien Life," 2 Feb. 2016 One reason for her suspicion emerged last year in additional Gaia results that showed one of the Milky Way’s hypervelocity stars was flung here from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy approximately 160,000 light-years from our own. — Nola Taylor Redd, Scientific American, "Midsize Black Holes May Explain the Milky Way’s Speediest Stars," 7 Aug. 2019 As reported in the new study, TESS spotted a trio of planets orbiting a dwarf star known as TOI 270. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, "Three 'Missing-Link' Planets Were Discovered Circling a Nearby Star by the New TESS Spacecraft," 31 July 2019 Smaller flowered and more dwarf types, usually available at garden centers, have very few summer problems and often reseed in gardens. — Tom Maccubbin, orlandosentinel.com, "Zinnias can be added to summer gardens in Florida," 27 July 2019 In teaching the birds a new route, Moullec hoped the geese could avoid hunters who threatened their numbers—at the time, a paltry 10 dwarf geese remained in Northern Europe. — Robin Aigner, Condé Nast Traveler, "A Man, a Tiny Aircraft, and a Flock of Geese: Flying Among Birds in France," 22 July 2019 Whale sharks, the largest fish species on Earth, can grow to more than 55 feet, while dwarf lantern sharks reach a mere eight inches. — National Geographic, "Sharks," 22 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
This would suggest that, buried deep below the clouds and layers of metallic hydrogen on Jupiter, there's a solid core that would dwarf the Earth if it were ever stripped of all the material above it. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Jupiter may have had a head-on collision with a massive protoplanet," 14 Aug. 2019 While the Pac-12 waits for a somewhat antiquated contract to expire, other Power 5 conferences have made splashy new deals that dwarf Scott’s conference. — Ross Dellenger, SI.com, "Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott Striving Towards an Enhanced On-Field Product," 24 July 2019 Muhammad bin Salman, the crown prince, announced it with fanfare (and scant forethought) in 2016, hoping for a $2trn valuation that would dwarf any other public company on the planet. — The Economist, "The world’s biggest potential IPO may be on again," 6 July 2019 While there are shopping platforms that easily dwarf Xiaohongshu—the app has something China’s biggest platforms don’t necessarily have: a community. — Tracy Qu, Quartz, "A red-hot Chinese shopping-review app shows the future of your online shopping experience," 28 June 2019 Part of the lack of competition is because of the huge capital expense required to develop and build a commercial plane, something that dwarfs the development cost in other fields. — Chris Isidore, CNN, "Boeing and Airbus made huge mistakes, but their dominance is under no threat," 25 June 2019 As in the children’s game that gives the collection its title, Dr. Osipov shows how people dwarfed by institutions can make purposeful moves with nonetheless arbitrary outcomes. — Laura Kolbe, WSJ, "‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ Review: Wishing and Waiting," 12 July 2019 But the eye is drawn to two humans, dwarfed by their surroundings, standing at the bottom of the shot. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "‘Life’ Magazine’s Earliest Women Photojournalists Step Into Spotlight," 28 June 2019 With the flip of a switch, every musician onstage was reduced to Lilliputian dimension, dwarfed by enormous, constantly moving, impossibly bright projections of themselves. — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "Column: Big screens and other distractions keep invading our concert spaces. Can we just focus on the music?," 26 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Zones: 7 to 9 Little Ollie Montra Dwarf Olive (Olea europaea 'Montra') This dwarf evergreen has deep green leaves with silvery undersides and can be potted or sheared into a hedge. — Arricca Sansone, Country Living, "20 Best Boxwood Shrubs to Plant in Your Garden," 14 Feb. 2019 For a pink dwarf crape myrtle, the experts identified Pokomoto as a selection to consider. — Calvin Finch, San Antonio Express-News, "There’s a lot to love about crape myrtles," 6 July 2018 Dwarf irises Why grow them: My bright-purple reticulatas reliably bloom in the first weeks of March, sticking their speckled tongues out at raging wind. — Susan Clotfelter, The Denver Post, "Ten plants that even a black-thumb gardener can’t kill," 31 Mar. 2017