noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   That which minimizes.
2. 2
   A word or phrase referring to a very small quantity of something, used to reinforce a negative sentence.

Etymology

From minimize + -er. In the linguistics sense, coined by American linguist Dwight Bolinger in 1972.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.