lilliputian

/ˌlɪləˈpjuʃən/

Something that's lilliputian is extremely small, like the lilliputian tables and chairs that might surprise you when you visit your kindergarten classroom years later.

The word lilliputian comes from Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel, Gulliver's Travels. Lilliput is the name of a fictional island whose people, the Lilliputians, stand only about six inches high. In addition to acting as an adjective to describe something that is very small — like the lilliputian cups and plates in a child's doll house — lilliputian can also be a noun that refers to extremely small people.

Definitions of lilliputian

1. adjective

   very small
   “a lilliputian chest of drawers”

   synonyms: bantam, diminutive, flyspeck, midget, petite, tiny

   little, small

   limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
2. adjective

   (informal) small and of little importance
   “our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war”

   synonyms: fiddling, footling, little, niggling, petty, picayune, piddling, piffling, trivial

   unimportant

   not important
3. noun

   a very small person (resembling a Lilliputian)
   type of:

   small person

   a person of below average size