smidgen
Plural: smidgens
Noun
- A very small amount.
- a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
- Chiefly in the form a smidgen of: a very small amount or quantity; a bit, a trace.
- Chiefly in the form a smidgen of a: a very small or insignificant person or thing; also, an instance of such a person or thing.
Examples
- Just a SMIDGEN of strategy helps in Words With Friends, especially with tile placement.
- Move it a smidgen to the right.
- Would you like some more cake? ―I’ll have a smidgen.
Origin / Etymology
Origin uncertain; possibly from smitch (“(originally Scotland, chiefly US) very small amount or quantity”) + possibly -in (a variant of -ing (suffix forming nouns denoting things considered collectively)). Smitch is possibly:
* derived from smitch (“smoke from a burning or smouldering thing; spot of dirt; blemish; dirt, grime”), a variant of smeech (“(southwest England) (dense or pungent) smoke; airborne dust”), from Middle English smeche, smek, smiche (“smoke from a burning or smouldering thing; cloud of smoke; fumes, vapour; smell”), from Old English smēc, smīc (“smoke; steam; vapour”), from Proto-West Germanic *smauki (“smoke”), related to Proto-Germanic *smeukaną (“to fume, smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *smewgʰ- (“smoke”); or
* borrowed from Scots smitch (“smudge, stain; blemish; very small amount, speck, trace; small insignificant person”), possibly a variant of English smutch (“dirty mark, smudge, stain; dirt, grime; slight indication”) (probably related to smudge, ultimate etymology unknown) and influenced by English smit (“(UK, dialectal) a stain”).
Synonyms
iota, scintilla, shred, smidge, smidgeon, smidgin, tittle, whit, Joe Nobody, absolute zero, ace, also-ran, atom, aught, bissel, bit, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, dab, damn, dash, diddly, dot, drop, dusting, dwarf, fleck, flip, flyspeck, glimpse, glint, grain, halfpennyworth, hint, inch, jot, lick, little guy, midget, minnow, mite, modicum, molecule, morceau, morsel, mote, nebbish, no one, nobody, nonentity, nothing, nothingburger, ooch, ounce, particle, pennyworth, peon, picayune, piece, pinch, pip-squeak, pipsqueak, pleb, prole, puny, quidam, rinky-dink, scantling, scent, scooch, scrap, scruple, semblance, shorty, shrimp, skerrick, skoosh, skosh, sliver, smattering, smidgen, smidget, smidgy, smitch, smithereen, soupçon, spark, spatter, speck, speckle, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, tad, tidbit, tidge, toddick, touch, trace, trifle, tuppence worth, wankstain, whiff, zero, zilch
Antonyms
dwarf, elf, little guy, midget, modicum, nonentity, peasant, peon, pleb, plebe, prole, shrimp, worthless person
Scrabble Score: 11
smidgen: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordsmidgen: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
smidgen: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary