Chinese word

渺小

Pronunciation

Pinyinmiǎo xiǎo

Meaning

  • adjectivevery small

Example

他的贡献相比之下非常渺小。tā de gòng xiàn xiāng bǐ zhī xià fēi cháng miáo xiǎo

His contribution is very small by comparison.

Illustration for 渺小 (very small)

More examples

面对浩瀚的宇宙，人类显得格外渺小。miàn duì hào hàn de yǔ zhòu rén lèi xiǎn de gé wài miáo xiǎo

In the face of the vast universe, humanity seems especially insignificant.

Core concept

A speck in a large whole, too small in scale or importance to make a noticeable difference.

Common phrases

  • 渺小的贡献miáo xiǎo de gòng xiàn

    trivial contribution

  • 渺小的力量miáo xiǎo de lì liàng

    insignificant strength

  • 渺小的存在miáo xiǎo de cún zài

    insignificant existence

Similar words

微不足道wēi bù zú dào: So lacking in value or importance that it can be safely ignored.
微小wēi xiǎo: Extremely small in physical size or amount.
无足轻重wú zú qīng zhòng: Having so little importance or influence that it receives little attention.
细微xì wēi: So small in form or change that it is hard to notice.

Definition in Chinese

表示规模、作用或价值极小，不足以对整体产生明显影响。biǎo shì guī mó zuò yòng huò jià zhí jí xiǎo bù zú yǐ duì zhéng tǐ chǎn shēng míng xiǎn yíng xiǎng

Word origin

渺 (miǎo, "faint and distant") + 小 (xiǎo, "small") combines the sense of something barely discernible with small size, giving the compound its sense of negligible scale or importance.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, this adjective often sounds more formal and evaluative than a plain size description, especially when judging a role or contribution.

Other meanings

  • trivialadjective

Opposites

Related words

  • 渺小感miáo xiǎo gǎnsense of insignificancenoun

Word lists with this word