a little
a little adverb: to a small extent or degree.
Adverb
a little (not comparable)
- To a small extent or degree.
- The door was opened a little.
- Helping not a little was a squad of volunteers.
- Synonyms:
- a bit, a little bit, a tad
- Slightly.
- She's a little strange, but nice enough.
- Synonyms:
- a bit, a little bit, a mite, a smidgen, a smidgeon, a tad, a touch, a trifle, barely, closely
- Very.
- It's a little big, don't you think?
- A lot.
- A lot of.
- It could do with a little work, that's for sure.
Determiner
a little
- A small amount of (an uncountable thing).
- A little water has spilled.
- All we need is a little time and money to carry this idea to fruition.
Pronoun
a little
- A small amount of an uncountable thing.
- "Would you like some water?" "Just a little, please."
- I’ll have a little of what you order.
a little meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
a little in Hindi
- to a small extent or degree
- थोड़ी-थोड़ी thoṛī-thoṛī, थोड़ा सा thoṛā sā, थोड़ा-थोड़ा thoṛā-thoṛā, ज़रा zarā, थोड़ा thoṛā, कम kam
a little in Tamil
- to a small extent or degree
- சற்று caṟṟu, சிறு ciṟu, சிறிய ciṟiya, கொஞ்சம் koñcam
- a small amount
- கொஞ்சம் koñcam
a little in Urdu
- to a small extent or degree
- ذرا zarā, تھوڑا سا thoṛā sā, کم kam
a little in Bengali
- to a small extent or degree
- সামান্য śamanno
More languagesFewer languages
- a little in Telugu
- కొంచెం koñceṁ
- a little in Malayalam
- കുറച്ച് kuṟaccŭ, അല്പം alpaṁ, ഒരല്പം oralpaṁ, ലേശം lēśaṁ
- a little in Kannada
- ತಟಕು, ನಸು, ಇಳಿ, ಏನಿಕೆ
- a little in Nepali
- अलिकति alikati, इत्ति itti, थोरै thorai
- a little in Pashto
- لږ lëģ
- a little in Tagalog
- kaunti, onti, medyo
- a little in Arabic
- قَلِيلًا qalīlan
- a little in Malay
- sedikit
- a little in Indonesian
- sedikit
- a little in Persian
- خرده xorde, کمی kami, یک کم yek kam, یک کمی yek kami
- a little in Thai
- หน่อย nɔ̀i, นิดหน่อย nít-nɔ̀i
- a little in Vietnamese
- một ít, ít, một chút, hơi
- a little in Myanmar
- နည်းနည်း nany:nany:, စိုးစဉ်း cui:cany:, တစိ ta.ci., အနည်းငယ် a.nany:ngai
Examples of a little in a sentence
- How are you feeling? ~ A little better, thanks.
- All that is left is a little bacon and a few eggs.
- I've been starting to get a little pain in both knees.
- Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
- Now let me get through the eating of this dolphin and get some rest and a little sleep.1952 September 1, Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 79:
Synonyms of a little
19 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Words formed from a little
Questions about a little
- What does a little mean?
- A little means to a small extent or degree.
- What is a little in Hindi?
- A little in Hindi is थोड़ी-थोड़ी (thoṛī-thoṛī), थोड़ा सा (thoṛā sā), थोड़ा-थोड़ा (thoṛā-thoṛā). See A little meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use a little in a sentence?
- How are you feeling? ~ A little better, thanks.
- What part of speech is a little?
- A little can be an adverb, a determiner or a pronoun.
Words near a little in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: a little (page history and authors); a little (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-a little.wav.
Cite this entry: “a little.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/a_little. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.