Lilliputian

/ˌˈlɪləˌˈpjuʃən/

Other forms: Lilliputians

Something Lilliputian is very small. You might complain to your grandmother that your piece of apple pie is Lilliputian in comparison to your brother's.

Lilliputian comes from the name of the tiny inhabitants of the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels. The inhabitants of the island are only about six inches tall, and they are very concerned with small, trivial matters. So when someone uses the word Lilliputian to describe something (outside of the novel), they are referring to something extremely small or trivial. As you grow up, your fights with your sister over Lilliputian matters — like who got to use which crayon first — will seem unimportant and of little significance.

Definitions of Lilliputian

1. adjective

   tiny; relating to or characteristic of the imaginary country of Lilliput
   “the Lilliputian population”
2. noun

   a 6-inch tall inhabitant of Lilliput in a novel by Jonathan Swift
   example of:

   character, fictional character, fictitious character

   an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)