What Does Petite Mean? | The Word Counter (2024)

What does the word petite mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary and the digital edition of the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the word petite means small and slim. This is usually used to describe a woman who needs to wear petite clothing. Someone who is a petite women or who has a petite figure usually has a trim figure. According to Petite Dressing, petite clothing or a petite size is a standard clothing size designed to fit women of shorter height. These women are usually shorter than 162 cm (5 ft 4 in). This clothing size refers to height and not weight – petite women can still be curvy as well as skinny. Petite clothing comes in P00 and PXS, all the way up to in PL, PXL, 14P, 16P and sometimes 18P. While it is thought that someone who is petite usually has a slim build and delicate features, this is not always the cast. The pronunciation of petite is pəˈtiːt.

According to Shabdkosh, Petite is also the stage name of Vincent Ayocho, who is a Filipino actor, comedian, singer and TV show host. He has has many projects with the GMA network, and is a Filipino comedian famous for performances at bars such as Comedy Bar, Punch line and Clowns with other celebrities Boobay, Iyah, Donita Nose, Ate Gay, Allan K. and Wally Bayola. In GMA Network, he hosted CelebriTV paired with Joey de Leon’s, Lolit’s partner. English Malay states that petite is also a storyline in The Big Bang Theory Season 1, Episode 10 in which they aim to create a petite, hot, 17-year-old killer robot. Have you seen this word on your favorite TV shows?

Many different languages also contain words that mean petite. You may notice that many of these words look similar to the English translation of the English word meaning petite. These are called cognates, which are words that look, sound, and mean similar things across different languages. These are often formed when two words or languages share a common origin or ancestral language, such as Latin or Greek. This list of translations of petite is provided by Word Sense.

French: menue‎ (fem.)
Portuguese: mion‎
Japanese: 幼お‎ (asanai)
Mandarin: 嬌小‎, 娇小‎ (jiāoxiǎo)
Finnish: siro‎
Russian: миниатюрный‎

What Does Petite Mean? | The Word Counter (1)

What are synonyms and antonyms of petite?

There are a vast collection of words that can be used in place of the word petite. These are known as synonyms in natural sounding English. Synonyms are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are useful to know if you are trying to grow your vocabulary as well as if you are trying to avoid repeating yourself. This list of synonyms for the word petite is provided by Power Thesaurus.

dainty
scaled-down
flyspeck
undersized
undersize
elflike
teeny-weeny
stubby
low
minor
paltry
small-boned
knee-high
shortest
negligible
picayune
slender
smallest
compact
microscopical
slightest
baby
not tall
pocket
miniature
slim
vertically challenged
slighter
teensy-weensy
short
insubstantial
wee
light
trivial
teeny
shorter
diminutive
dwarfish
half-pint
gossamer
littlest
minuscule
peewee
itty-bitty
pocket-sized
little-bitty
micro
gossamery
teensy
toy
small
very small
lightweight
petty
insignificant
elfin
flimsy
fluffy
least
microscopic
squat
fun-size
littler
tiny
smaller
pint-size
stunted
little bitty
infinitesimal
piddling
airy
smallish
nanoscopic
minute
puny
weeny
midget
dinky
delicate
dwarf
tiniest
lilliputian
vest-pocket
runty
reduced
microminiature
pint-sized
little
ethereal
trifling
bantam
pygmy
small-scale
imperceptible
modest
mini
measly
bitty
slight
itsy-bitsy

There are also many different words that mean the opposite of the word petite. These opposite words are called antonyms. Antonyms are also useful to know if you are trying to improve your vocabulary. This list of antonyms for the word petite is also provided by Power Thesaurus.

gargantuan
leaden
big
enormous
considerable
graceless
extra-large
giant
gargantuous
ample
indelicate
titanic
distasteful
elephantine
supermassive
overwhelming
vast
hulking
heavy
immense
large
game-changing
dreadful
outsized
gigantic
oversize
repulsive
last
colossal
inferior
obnoxious
awful
humongous
long
poor
largish
appalling
broad
massive
oversized
great
dinosauric
disgusting
tall
boxcar
girthy
bad-looking
rough
bulky
huge

How can the word petite be used in a sentence?

Using a word in a sentence is a great way to learn its definition. You could also try making flashcards or a quiz to test your knowledge of new lingo and new words. Try using this word of the day in a sentence today! Below are several different examples of using the word petite in a sentence to help get you started.

The shorter women who were waitresses at the Thai restaurant had the figure of a petite woman and a small set of feet. The uniform was a loose white dress, but they had to get the inseams, armholes, sleeve lengths and bust altered so they fit more like petite dresses. This way, they wouldn’t trip and fall down the staircase!

The Lilliputian chest of drawers was full of clothing in a small size perfect for thin girls and petite girls like a skirt, petite pants, and jacket. They were sick of having to get alterations done to clothing from retailers due to garment size, a shorter arm, leg lengths, where the waist hit in the top half, tiny feet, narrower shoulders, and more that were tough to find for slender women in women’s clothing. The young lady found the perfect fit clothing she could normally only find online shopping.

Overall, the word petite means small and slender. This word is used in casual English as well as proper English.

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Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.