Better Writing

Size

There are lots of words that describe sizes, heights, lengths, and durations. We have gathered together some of them for you which you might like to use in your own stories and poems, so instead of saying simply "the big elephant" you might perhaps say "the enormous elephant", particularly if you like aliteration and cliches!

Big

• Abundant - A large quantity.
• Ample - Large, extensive, abundant. Ample implies there is plenty of something.
• Army - A large number of things. A multitude of things. Army implies a lot of something such as people or animals.
• Astronomical - Extremely large. Immense.
• Augmentative - Large of its kind. The opposite of diminutive.
• Ball - A large pill or capsule formerly used to describe such a pill in medicine, now only in veterinary medicine.
• Battalion - A large, ordered group. Battalion is used to describe a group of people with a similar task.
• Bay - A large and broad indentation in a coastline.
• Berg - A large floating mass.
• Bible - An old term for a large and lengthy book.
• Big - Of considerable size, height, weight, number etc. But not impressive or great. Just large.
• Binder - A large quantity. Usually applied to food.
• Blad - A large portion.
• Bloated - Made abnormally large by swelling. Swollen.
• Broad - Having a relatively great width. Wide.
• Buirdly - Large and well made. Sturdy.
• Bulky - So large as to be unwieldy.
• Burly - Of large and thick build. Burly is descriptive of animals and people.
• Capacious - Spacious or comprehensive with regards to capacity.
• Chesty - Having a well formed chest.
• Chuckle - Large and clumsy. Chuckle is used to describe the head.
• Coarse - Large in texture or grain.
• Comfortable - Large. Said of margins such as large margins of victory.
• Comprehensive - Having a large content or scope.
• Considerable - Somewhat large in extent or duration.
• Copious - Numerous.
• Cyclopean - Huge, monstrous.
• Decuman - Very large. Immense. Decuman is used to describe waves.
• Dumpy - Short and stout. Approaching a cube in shape.
• Enormous - Excessive in size. Very large. Huge. Very great.
• Epiphytotic - Temporarily prevalent over a large area. Epiphytotic is used to describe plant diseases.
• Fat - Larger than usual.
• Flaggy - Large. Flaggy describes large blades of wheat and other grasses.
• Generous - Ample, large, abundant, copious. Being plentiful, perhaps of plentiful proportions.
• Giant - Abnormally large.
• Gigantic - Abnormally large.
• Grand - Large and great. Grand implies splendour.
• Great - Relatively large. Big.
• Gross - Relatively large.
• Healthy - Impressively large. Healthy is a jocular and colloquial expression often used to describe parts of the human body.
• Heavily - Extensively. To a large amount.
• Hefty - Large and strong. Large, heavy and bulky.
• Huge - Extremely large. Very big. Immense.
• Hulk - Large and unwieldy.
• Hulking - Large and ungainly.
• Immense - Unusually large. Huge. Vast.
• Infinite - A large number or quantity too big to ever be counted.
• Large - Having a relatively great size or extent. Copious. Ample.
• Liberal - Large. Liberal may be used to describe a part of the body.
• Lob - A large piece or nugget.
• Long - Having a relatively great length or duration.
• Macro - Macro is a prefix implying large, long or comprehensive.
• Macrocephalic - Relatively long or large. Macrocephalic is used to describe heads and skulls.
• Mammoth - Huge, large. Very big.
• Massive - Large in mass. Heavy. Very big.
• Mega - Large, great. Mega is a colloquial word.
• Mighty - Huge, massive, bulky. Mighty implies power and strength.
• Monolithic - Large, solid and uniform.
• Monster - Large and imposing.
• Monstrous - Extremely large. Imposing. Too big.
• Multitudinous - Very numerous. Consisting of a large quantity of elements or individuals.
• Myriad - A very numerous amount. Countless. Infinite. Myriad is an abbreviation of myriadfold, and is the more popularly used word.
• Myriadfold - A very numerous amount. Countless. Infinite.
• Outsize - Exceptionally large. Outsize is typically used to describe clothes.
• Oversized - Abnormally large.
• Patagonian - Giant.
• Poly - Poly is a prefix indicating a large quantity of something.
• Precipitous - Large and sudden. Precipitous is used to describe a decline or a fall.
• Rich - Yielding a large quantity of something.
• Rife - Numerous. Abundant. Plentiful.
• Roid - Large and unwieldy.
• Rude - Large, coarse and inelegant.
• Sizeable - Large. Substantial.
• Spacious - Extensive. Expansive.
• Spacy - Spacious.
• Stout - Solidly built. Of a wide proportion in relation to height. Short and fat.
• Substantial - Of considerable size. Ample. Fairly large.
• Tall - Of more than average height.
• Thick - Of large diameter. Broad.
• Throng - A large quantity of people.
• Tremendous - Extremely large and good. Remarkable. Extraordinary.
• Umpty - A fairly large quantity.
• Vast - Of very great or large dimensions or size. Immense.
• Voluminous - Extremely copious. Having a large volume.
• Weighty - Unusually large or bulky.
• Whopper - Something unusually large for its class. Whopper is informal language.
• Whopping - Unusually large. Huge.

Small

• Abbreviated - Cut short. Curtailed.
• Abridged - Curtailed. Reduced in length. Condensed. Abridged is usually applied to written works.
• Chip - A small piece that has been cut or broken off a larger piece.
• Clipping - A small piece cut out of or trimmed from, such as a printed article or finger nail.
• Condensed - Reduced in size by crowding together. Narrower than usual. Squashed. Reduced by removal of superfluous materials or wasted space.
• Crumb - A small fragment of a baked food.
• Dainty - Elegant, delicate and refined.
• Delicate - Fine or subtle.
• Diminutive - Very small. Tiny.
• Dribble - A small, slow flow in drops. A trickle.
• Drop - A small quantity of a liquid.
• Droplet - A tiny drop.
• Finger - A tot of liquid the width of a finger. A small slice of food the width of a finger.
• Flake - A small thin slice.
• Fleck - A small particle.
• Fragment - A small, incomplete piece of something larger.
• Gobbet - A lump or chunk of something, usually of raw meat.
• Grain - A small, hard particle.
• Granule - A small grain.
• Meagre - Deficient in amount. Small, but deficiently so.
• Miniature - A very small example of something. A copy of something produced in a reduced scale.
• Minimal - Extremely small.
• Minute - Very small. Tiny.
• Particle - An extremely small piece of matter.
• Peck - Small, quick and light. Peck is usually applied to an action (used as an adverb) such as a quick, light kiss which is known as a peck.
• Scant - So small as to be scarcely sufficient.
• Scrap - A small piece of something larger. A fragment.
• Short - Of small length, height or duration.
• Skimpy - Excessively small or thrifty. Skimpy is often said of very scant clothing or of a miser.
• Slim - Small in amount or quantity. Small in width relative to height. When said of a person, slim implies a good lack of fat.
• Slender - Slim and also well formed. Slender implies more elegance than slim.
• Small - Limited in size or quantity.
• Snippet - A small scrap or fragment.
• Speck - A small piece of something.
• Spot - A small mark.
• Syncope - The shortening of a word by the loss of a vowel or consonant or even an entire syllable in the middle of the word.
• Thread - A fine strand.
• Tiny - Very small.
• Wee - Very small, tiny. Wee is more often associated with the Scottish language.

Tall

• Giant - Exceptionally tall, abnormally tall.
• High - A long way up.
• Lofty - Tall.
• Long - Tall.
• Orming - Tall and ungainly.
• Soaring - Tall and imposing.
• Spindly - Tall and slender.
• Spiry - Tall and slender.
• Tall - Of more than average height.
• Taunt - Excessively tall. Taunt is said of a ship's masts or of a ship with very tall masts.
• Towering - Very tall.
• Weedy - Tall and thin.

Short

• Abbreviated - Cut short.
• Abridged - Shortened.
• Acute - Of short duration.
• Bit - A short period of time.
• Bob - Cut short. Bob is used to describe hair or an animal's hair.
• Bobby - Short.
• Brief - Short. Of short duration. Curtailed.
• Crash - A short spell. A spurt. An intense, condensed session.
• Curtal - Shortened, curtailed.
• Dubby - Short and dumpy.
• Dumpy - Short and stout.
• Dwarf - Of short stature.
• Ephemeral - Transitory. Lasting a short time only.
• Evanid - Of a short duration.
• Lack - Short of something. Wanting.
• Lean - Short of.
• Little - Short in duration or size.
• Miniature - A very small example of something. A copy of something produced in a reduced scale.
• Podgy - Short and fat.
• Potted - Condensed. Summarised.
• Quick - Lasting a short time.
• Scarce - Restricted in quantity, size or amount.
• Scut - Short. Scut was a Mediaeval word.
• Short - Low in stature.
• Small - Short or brief.
• Snub - Short and blunt.
• Snubby - Short and stumpy.
• Squab - Short and fat.
• Stocky - Short and thickset.
• Stubbed - Short and thick.
• Stubby - Short and squat.
• Stumpy - Short and thick.
• Succinct - Of short duration.
• Truncated - Cut short.
• Trunch - Short and thick.
• Trunked - Cut short.