Describing Size and Scale: English Vocabulary List

much larger than what is expected or regular

"He wears an outsize shirt."

"The outsize suitcase was too big to fit in the overhead bin so she had to check it at the gate."

extremely large in size or extent

"The whale is gigantic."

"The gigantic whale breached the surface of the water and everyone on the boat gasped at the amazing sight before them."

extremely large, often suggesting unwieldiness

"The desk was elephantine."

"The elephantine creature moved slowly through the jungle while the smaller animals ran away from its enormous size and power."

very large and bulky

"A hulking figure appeared."

"The hulking figure stood in the doorway blocking the light so she could not see who was standing there."

larger or more significant than the standard or typical size

"He ordered a supersized meal."

"He ordered a supersized meal at the fast food restaurant and could not finish all of the fries because there were too many."

extremely large in size or scale

"The ship was titanic."

"The titanic iceberg loomed over the ship, a truly awe-inspiring and terrifying sight for the passengers."

used to describe something that is unusually large in size or scale

"The statue is gigantesque."

"The gigantesque statue in the town square honored the soldiers who had died in the war many years ago."

larger than the standard or usual size

"He wore an oversized jacket."

"The oversized sweatshirt was three sizes too big but she wore it anyway because it was comfortable and cozy at home."

large and occupying a significant amount of space, often hard to handle

"The package is bulky."

"The bulky winter coat took up most of the space in her small closet so she stored it under the bed instead."

very small in size, related to the fictional country of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"

"The car looks lilliputian."

"The lilliputian details on the miniature model train were so small that she needed a magnifying glass to see them properly."

very small in size or importance

"The difference is miniscule."

"The miniscule difference between the two products made it hard for customers to decide which one to buy for their needs."

very tiny in size

"She has a teeny-weeny dog."

"The teeny weeny ant carried a crumb that was twice the size of its own tiny little body across the sidewalk."

small and weak in strength or size

"The mouse is puny."

"The puny little plant did not get enough sunlight so it grew weak and thin and eventually died in the dark corner."

insignificant and small

"The toy car is dinky."

"The dinky little car was perfect for driving in the city because it could fit into the smallest parking spaces available anywhere."

very small

"The detail is minute."

"The minute details of the painting were invisible to the naked eye so the museum provided magnifying glasses for the visitors to use."

much smaller than what is normal

"The singer is diminutive."

"The diminutive actress was only four feet tall but her powerful voice filled the entire theater without a microphone at all."

smaller or shorter than average

"He is a pint-sized player."

"The pint sized player surprised everyone with his speed and agility on the basketball court despite being the shortest person on the team."

extremely and abnormally small

"The plant is dwarfish."

"The dwarfish tree in the bonsai garden was over a hundred years old but stood only twelve inches tall and very wide."

resembling a toy in appearance, often indicating small size, simplicity, or a playful quality

"The car is toylike."

"The toylike appearance of the tiny car made children think it was a remote control toy but it was actually a real vehicle."

having a significantly small size, often implying extreme compactness

"The camera is subminiature."

"The subminiature camera was used by spies during the cold war to take secret photos without being detected by the enemy agents."

extremely tiny, smaller than what a regular microscope can detect

"The virus is submicroscopic."

"The submicroscopic virus could not be seen with a regular microscope so the scientists used an electron microscope to study its structure."

to shrink in size

"The skin will shrivel."

"The grapes began to shrivel in the hot sun and eventually turned into raisins after several days of drying."

to make something smaller in size, amount, or intensity

"We must scale down the plan."

"The company was forced to scale down its operations after losing several major clients to competing firms in the industry."

significantly larger than the standard size

"I have a king-size bed."

"The king size bed took up almost the entire bedroom so they had to buy smaller nightstands to fit beside it properly."