Small crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Small” are FINE, SOFT or TINY, with 4 letters. Below are 107 answers from 3 to 14 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

LOW 3 letters · adjective

low or inferior in station or quality “a lowly parish priest”

FINE 4 letters · adjective

of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles “wood with a fine grain”

YOUNG 5 letters · adjective

(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth “young people”

LITTLE 6 letters · adjective

limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent “a little dining room”

LIMITED 7 letters · adjective

small in range or scope “limited war”

MODERATE 8 letters · verb

preside over “John moderated the discussion”

DECREASED 9 letters · adjective

made less in size or amount or degree

DIMINISHED 10 letters · adjective

made to seem smaller or less (especially in worth)

MICROSCOPIC 11 letters · adjective

so small as to be invisible without a microscope “differences were microscopic”

EXTINGUISHER 12 letters · noun

a manually operated device for extinguishing small fires

INSIGNIFICANT 13 letters · adjective

small and unimpressive “an insignificant sum of money”

WEIGHTLESSNESS 14 letters · noun

the property of being comparatively small in weight

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, FINE, SOFT, TINY, SLIM, PUNY and REAL all fit. The first letter settles most of it: F → FINE · S → SOFT, SLIM · T → TINY · P → PUNY · R → REAL. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, YOUNG, MINOR, MICRO, LOWLY, TEENY and BITTY all fit. The third letter tells them all apart: U → YOUNG · N → MINOR · C → MICRO · W → LOWLY · E → TEENY · T → BITTY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 3 squares, LOW, WEE, FEW, BIT, BOX and BAY all fit. The third letter settles most of it: W → LOW, FEW · E → WEE · T → BIT · X → BOX · Y → BAY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “smalls” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “small” means

• adjective: limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent (“a small car”)
• adjective: relatively moderate, limited, or small (“a small business”)
• adjective: (of children and animals) young, immature (“small children”)
• adjective: slight or limited; especially in degree or intensity or scope (“a series of death struggles with small time in between”)

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as SMALL, and words whose definition is SMALL. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.