Hello lovely students, and welcome to today’s lesson on size synonyms. During this lesson, I’ll be going over synonyms of the word ‘size’ and size-related words such as big, small, long and short, and their synonyms too.
It will be a lesson that’ll boost your vocabulary from simple to advanced when it comes to all things size.
Now that I’ve cleared that up and given you a taster of what’s coming, let’s start.
Synonyms of the word size
Check out these alternatives to the noun size. You probably already know this, so I apologise for explaining, but the definition of size is how large or small something or someone is. The ‘something’ can be tangible, such as a house, or non-tangible such as an issue.
I’m sure you already knew the definition, but I wanted to add it here for clarification.
1) Dimension
The house’s dimensions are excellent.
2) Measurement
The measurement of this piece of paper is bigger than anything I’ve ever seen.
3) Extent
Seeing the extent of rubbish in Rome, you might think the local government would do something to sort out the problem.
4) Proportion
The exact proportions of her body were vital to the dressmaker.
5) Magnitude
The magnitude of the problem was bigger than we first thought.
I should mention that magnitude and extent mean something else too.
Magnitude also relates to the great importance of something.
Because of the magnitude of the project, the manager needed to hire three new team members.
When using the word magnitude in this way, it refers to something big.
The same goes for extent. This word means how important or serious something is.
I didn’t realise the extent of her injuries. I had no idea she would have had to stay in hospital for three months.
Fun fact: the word magnitude is also used for the size of an earthquake. The magnitude of the earthquake last year was 7.5.
Now let’s move on to some actual synonyms for common size-related adjectives.
Synonyms of size-related adjectives
Big
| Synonym | Example |
| Large | His car was very large. It was almost like a bus. |
| Sizeable | It was a sizeable cake. It could have fed 200 people. |
| Substantial | The quality of her writing was substantial. |
| Huge | Their house is huge! |
| Gigantic | I have a gigantic problem that I want to talk to you about regarding Sylvia. |
| Enormous | Blue whales are enormous. |
| Oversized | My grandmother’s oversized jacket is my favourite piece of clothing. |
| Colossal | My husband is colossal in height. |
| Massive | She used to have a massive crush on Chad Michael Murray. |
| Great | The show was a great success. |
Short and small
Just before I get started, there is a difference between short and small. The definition of short is measuring or covering a small length or distance and someone who is small in height. The definition of small is not large in size or amount.
However, the synonyms for the two are the same.
| Synonym | Example |
| Little | I have a little office for my work-from-home days. |
| Tiny | The value of my father’s collection was tiny. |
| Puny* | Captain America used to be puny before he grew. |
| Pocket-sized | This hairbrush is pocket-sized, making it perfect for travel. |
| Lilliputian | My English teacher had a very loud voice, although she was Lilliputian. |
| Dinky | His puppy is dinky! |
| Petite** | There’s almost always a petite section in clothing stores. |
| Minuscule | She has a minuscule kitchen in her apartment. It’s just a sink, a small fridge and a stove. |
| Microscopic | The UK is microscopic compared to the US. |
| Miniature | There’s a place in Italy that has miniature reproductions of all the major Italian cities. |
*Puniness is rarely used in British English and is more common in American English.
** Petite is often used to describe humans rather than objects.
Tall
| Synonym | Example |
| Lofty | The lofty walls of the fort were hard to penetrate. |
| Towering | Andre the Giant was a towering man. He had a huge form. |
| Altitudinous | The windows in the house were altitudinous. |
Collocation with size
Just as a little something extra, I’ve decided to give you not one, not two, but five collocations with size in them. Look at the table below to find out more.
| Sheer size | Used to emphasise the large size of something or someone | The sheer size of the ferry — the largest ever built — made people wonder how many facilities it had. |
| Actual size | The genuine size of something or someone | The air conditioner’s actual size was the same as what it said in the product description. |
| Font size | Refers to how large the characters on a screen or printed text are | Now that I’m older, I need to make the font size on my mobile phone bigger! |
| Portion size | The serving size of a meal or snack | When we went to America, we couldn’t believe how big the portion sizes were. Their small portion would be our big portion back home! |
| Modest size | Not very large, but not very small | His swimming pool was a modest size. It wasn’t gigantic, but it also wasn’t small. |
Is that everything?
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