How to Use little in a Sentence

little

1 of 3 adjective
  • I got very little sleep last night.
  • There's little hope of a rescue now.
  • You have little choice but to pay attention.
  • The new version bears little resemblance to the original.
  • These trinkets have little or no value.
  • I have less money than I did before.
  • These programs have very little chance of succeeding.
  • I have very little money, so I can't lend you any.
  • We're having a little party this weekend.
  • The smell of his little shoe store.
    — Sue Fox Schwartz, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2026
  • There are some little bits of joy in there.
    — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
  • The tight little gold lamé shorts.
    — Katie Rife, Vulture, 9 Nov. 2025
  • There was little pity from adults.
    — John Blake, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025
  • And here you are shut up in this little cage.
    — Ron Arias, PEOPLE, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Vicky has so much of life left and yet so little.
    — Literary Hub, 16 Mar. 2026
  • There are some quaint little shops in town too.
    — Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 27 Sep. 2025
  • Since then, though, little has changed.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 26 May 2026
  • The little comb makes putting brows in place a cinch.
    — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Minter had a lot of work to do and little time to do it.
    — Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 12 May 2026
  • So to just get away from that a little once in a while is nice.
    — Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 6 Sep. 2023
  • And from there, the rest of the show flowed, with little ebb.
    — Theoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Yes, it can be used right away by adding a little more olive oil.
    — Rita Nader Heikenfeld, The Enquirer, 21 July 2023
  • Those little kids are much more equipped than Xavier.
    — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
  • But satire, as a rule, falls flat when the satirist has so little to say.
    — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 12 May 2026
  • Those little things to kind of keep the magic in life.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 16 June 2026
  • There were big hits and little room for error.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 13 Jan. 2026
  • Sent me his vocals in very little time.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 19 May 2026
  • But on the ground here in Ukraine, little has changed.
    — ABC News, 7 Sep. 2025
  • The defeat at first did him little harm.
    — Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
  • The little girl had walked there to buy a pencil.
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2026

little

2 of 3 adverb
  • She works very little and sleeps even less.
  • His art is little known in this country.
  • We had little more than we needed.
  • Please speak as little as possible.
  • They were last seen little changed.
    — Tasmin Lockwood,hugh Leask,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Shares have been little changed in the past three months.
    — Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Visa shares were little changed.
    — Darla Mercado, Cfp®,sarah Min, CNBC, 16 Dec. 2025
  • Shares of Airbnb are little changed for the year.
    — Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 17 Dec. 2025
  • The Dow ​was set ⁠to end the week little changed.
    — Sean Nevin, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2026
  • But these sparse ranks have just gotten a little less sparse.
    — Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 9 Aug. 2023
  • And who isn’t looking for a little more fun in their lives these days?
    — Maggie Gillette, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Mar. 2023
  • Nvidia shares were little changed midday.
    — Darla Mercado, Cfp®, CNBC, 30 Dec. 2025
  • That trade tells you very little about the seller’s view of value.
    — Jim Osman, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
  • Amazon stock was little changed.
    — Katie Tarasov, CNBC, 8 June 2026
  • Synaptics’ stock was little changed.
    — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 26 June 2026
  • Isabel is such a genius, but was little known.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 26 May 2026
  • Discernibly, very little changed at the start of the second half.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Treasury yields were little changed.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Mary created the menu, which has changed little since the cafe first opened.
    — Paula De La Cruz-Fernández, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Shares of Amazon were little changed.
    — Michelle Fox, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2026
  • That’s little changed from 39 million last year.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 20 May 2026
  • Stock futures are little changed this morning.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Stock futures are little changed this morning.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Stock futures are little changed this morning.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Stock futures are little changed this morning.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Alphabet shares are down 4% in the past one month and are little changed for the year.
    — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Her nails were filed into a square shape a little longer than fingertip length.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 21 June 2023
  • Wines at $7 are also available for those who like their evenings a little more laid back.
    — Brian May Maestro, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2023
  • The stakes are little lighter now, however.
    — Christian Romo, Freep.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The front line across much of the region has remained little changed during the past two years.
    — Carlie Procell, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2025

little

3 of 3 noun
  • That did strike me as a little uncalled for,’’ the judge said.
    — oregonlive.com, 8 July 2019
  • There’s a little of me in there, too, with video clips throughout.
    — Ross Raihala, Twin Cities, 16 Aug. 2019
  • Any Sharks fan worth his or her salt gets a little choked up at the thought.
    — Garrett Wroblewski/guest Columnist, The Mercury News, 9 June 2019
  • Right now the future sound of indie rock is a little stressed out.
    — Allison P. Davis, The Cut, 20 June 2018
  • Try them out with your littles to set them up for reading success!
    — Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Our entire mission is about adding a little more heart to life.
    — Taylor Seely, USA TODAY, 13 July 2018
  • Kate intends to bring a little of her late mother-in-law to the role.
    — Monique Jessen, PEOPLE.com, 11 Jan. 2022
  • Champagne for the adults and apple juice for the littles.
    — Hedy Phillips, PEOPLE, 8 June 2026
  • From the Heat there was precious little of note, a team that had run out of gas.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun-Sentinel.com, 25 Apr. 2018
  • Some weeks dusting was the hot item, other times the littles would sweep and mop up a storm.
    — Martin Cizmar, WIRED, 20 Dec. 2023
  • The tone of our dialogue will change as my littles age and mature.
    — Kimberly Zapata, Health.com, 10 Sep. 2019
  • Few had heard of him, and most knew little of their distant relations.
    — Jonathan Pitts, baltimoresun.com, 21 Aug. 2019
  • Ladle a little of the squash and sauce mix, followed by three sheets to cover the sauce.
    — Dana McMahan, The Courier-Journal, 27 Sep. 2022
  • If the fans had any faith remaining before this game, there’s little of it left now.
    — Nick Moyle, ExpressNews.com, 8 Jan. 2020
  • Set up dry as a tunnel for the littles to bounce and crawl through, or add water for all ages to race down.
    — Angel Madison, Women's Health, 30 June 2023
  • Here's to all the grandparents in the world raising our littles!
    — Tommy McArdle, Peoplemag, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Stocks and bonds are a little cheaper now, but not much, and the threats to the outlook are clearer.
    — Richard Barley, WSJ, 23 Mar. 2018
  • Even the littles help out with age-appropriate tasks.
    — Melissa Willets, Parents, 18 June 2026
  • Heat a medium skillet and add a little of the remaining olive oil.
    — The View, ABC News, 14 Jan. 2022
  • Bring a little of the outdoors in without all that soil and watering.
    — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 6 Sep. 2022
  • Dennis will probably give a little more the business piece of it.
    — Larry Holder, NOLA.com, 21 May 2018
  • The truth is, most work-from-home employees will try a little of everything.
    — Christopher Elliott, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2021
  • And for those traveling with littles, the hotel’s kids club is ready and waiting.
    — Ariel Okin, Vogue, 22 Jan. 2025
  • Our judges loved that the puffs provide a dose of choline and iron, two key nutrients for growing littles.
    — Good Housekeeping, 20 June 2023
  • The Reds showed a little late life on offense Friday night – just not enough to avoid a loss.
    — Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati.com, 13 Apr. 2018
  • And tossing things in the air and messing them up a little also felt exciting.
    — Dan Snierson, EW.com, 30 Oct. 2019
  • When the pasta is ready, use tongs to move it to the pan with the sauce, letting a little of the salty water come along, too.
    — Washington Post, 3 Dec. 2021
  • The Ryobi is a good little saw that got off to an unfortunate start.
    — Alex Rennie, Popular Mechanics, 26 June 2023
  • Everyone slept in a little bit and now the littles are asking for pancakes.
    — Bon Appétit Contributor, Bon Appétit, 10 Mar. 2023
  • Strong adults will let the littles (who really should not be skiing with their own poles yet in most cases) grab their pole.
    — Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 25 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'little.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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