What does "minor" mean?
A child, a person who has not reached the age of majority, consent, etc. and is legally subject to fewer responsibilities and less accountability and entitled to fewer legal rights and privileges.
Minor
/ˈmaɪ.nəɹ/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A child, a person who has not reached the age of majority, consent, etc. and is legally subject to fewer responsibilities and less accountability and entitled to fewer legal rights and privileges.
- Grammar: minor is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: child, youngster, academic specialty, adolescent.
- Useful contrasts: antonym(s) of, major, supreme.
- Usage evidence: A couple of flights were delayed on account of a minor accident.
How to use "minor"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "minor" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "minor" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "minor" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "minor" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "minor" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "child" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "minor", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A child, a person who has not reached the age of majority, consent, etc. and is legally subject to fewer responsibilities and less accountability and entitled to fewer legal rights and privileges.
"No, he can't get a mortgage or sell the house. He's still a minor. For the most part, he can't sign a legally binding contract."
- 2 a young person of either sex wordnet
- 3 A lesser person or thing, a person, group, or thing of minor rank or in the minor leagues.
"He plays in the minors."
- 4 Ellipsis of minor interval, minor scale, minor mode, minor key, minor chord, or minor triad. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 5 A formally recognized secondary area of undergraduate study, requiring fewer course credits than the equivalent major. Canada, US
"I got a minor in English Lit."
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 A person who is completing or has completed such a course of study. Canada, US, uncommon
"I became an English minor."
- 7 A determinant of a square matrix obtained by deleting one or more rows and columns.
"...the whole of a system of rth minors being zero..."
- 8 Alternative letter-case form of Minor: a Franciscan friar, a Clarist nun. alt-of
"He... to þe menours ordre went"
- 9 Ellipsis of minor term or minor premise. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"And so musten oure clerkis argue whan þai aleggen for her lordeschip þe lyuynge of her patrons & sayntis, & sayen þus: "Seynt thomas & seynt hwe & seynt Swiþune wer þus lordis, & in þis þai suyd cristis lyuynge & his lore; þerfor we may lefulli be þus lordis." And I wote wel þat gabriel schal blow his horne or þai han preuyd þe mynor; þat is, þat þes seyntes or patrons in þis suyden þe lore or þe life of ihesu criste."
- 10 Ellipsis of minor league (“the lower level of teams”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"It is certain that the major leagues must depend upon the minors for their recruits."
- 11 Ellipsis of minor penalty (“a penalty requiring a player to leave the ice for 2 minutes unless the opposing team scores”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"Penalties... First Period... all minors."
- 12 Synonym of behind: a one-point kick. Australian
"Brown from a mark on the magazine wing put up the first minor."
- 13 Ellipsis of minor point (“a lesser score formerly gained by certain actions”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, historical
"At half-time the score was—one goal, three tries, and four minors."
- 14 Ellipsis of minor suit, a card of a minor suit. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"Many find it easier to remember 20 for Minors, 30 for Majors and 35 for No Trump."
- 15 Any of various noctuid moths in Europe and Asia, chiefly in the Oligia and Mesoligia genera.
- 16 A leaf-cutter worker ant intermediate in size between a minim and a media.
- 17 Changes rung on six bells.
- 18 An adolescent, a person above the legal age of puberty but below the age of majority. obsolete
- 19 Synonym of subtrahend, the amount subtracted from a number. obsolete, rare
- 20 The younger brother of a pupil. UK, obsolete, rare
"Let my minor pass, you fellows!... Here, Chudleigh, just make room there."
- 21 Short for graph minor abbreviation, alt-of
Verb
- 1 Used in a phrasal verb: minor in. intransitive
- 2 have as one's secondary field of study wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option, particularly
"of minor importance"
- 2 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Underage, not having reached legal majority.
"The defendant resides at 123 Fake Street with his partner and two minor children."
- 3 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Not serious, not involving risk of death, permanent injury, dangerous surgery, or extended hospitalization. figuratively, sometimes
"She suffered a minor injury."
- 4 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Smaller by a diatonic semitone than the equivalent major interval.
"The musical interval between C and E♭ is a minor third while C to E is a major third."
- 5 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Incorporating a minor third interval above the (in scales) tonic or (in chords) root note, (also figurative) tending to produce a dark, discordant, sad, or pensive effect.
"Beethoven's melancholy Moonlight Sonata is scored in the key of C# minor, using the diatonic scale C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A, and B, but modulates throughout."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Of or related to a minor, a secondary area of undergraduate study. Canada, US
"The minor requirements only involve about 20 hours of classes."
- 7 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Of or related to a minor, a determinate obtained by deleting one or more rows and columns from a matrix.
- 8 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Acting as the subject of the second premise of a categorical syllogism, which then also acts as the subject of its conclusion.
"The minor term of John Stuart Mill's famous syllogism—usually mistakenly credited to Aristotle—is Socrates; the major term is mortal."
- 9 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; The younger of two pupils (or the middle of three) with the same surname. UK, dated
"He whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes minor,"
- 10 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Of or related to the relationship between the longa and the breve in a score. historical
"The minor perfect mode was marked by one single line which crossed three spaces, and the longue was equal to three breves... The minor imperfect mode was marked by a line which crossed two spaces only, and its longue was equal only to two breves."
- 11 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Having semibreves twice as long as a minim. historical
"Josquin works in minor prolation—that is, works in which the signature indicates that a semibreve is equal to two minims, often have a 3 as a medial signature for a few measures, indicating that until the 3 is canceled by the reappearance of a sign for minor prolation, there are to be 3 minims to a semibreve."
- 12 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Of or related to a minority party. obsolete
"...that the Minor part of the Lords might joyn with the Major part of the House of Commons..."
- 13 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Having little worth or ability; paltry; mean.
"And whenever Dre tore her off some money, she always split it up between his kids. She would've felt real minor taking all his cash and spending it on herself, knowing how needy his babies were."
- 14 Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option; Including both directed and undirected edges.
Adjective
- 1 relatively moderate, limited, or small wordnet
- 2 inferior in number or size or amount wordnet
- 3 lesser in scope or effect wordnet
- 4 not of legal age wordnet
- 5 (of a scale or mode) having half steps between the second and third degrees, and (usually) the fifth and sixth degrees, and the seventh and eighth degrees wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 of your secondary field of academic concentration or specialization wordnet
- 7 of lesser importance or stature or rank wordnet
- 8 of lesser seriousness or danger wordnet
- 9 warranting only temporal punishment wordnet
- 10 of the younger of two boys with the same family name wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"A couple of flights were delayed on account of a minor accident."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "minor"?
Common synonyms include: child, youngster, academic specialty, adolescent, area, average.
How do you use "minor" in a sentence?
A couple of flights were delayed on account of a minor accident.
How do you pronounce "minor"?
Pronounced /ˈmaɪ.nəɹ/.
Etymology
From Middle English minor, menor, menour, etc., from Latin minor (“lesser; young; young person”) both directly and via Norman and Middle French menor, menour, etc. Doublet of minus but not mini-. Cognate with minister, minify, Minorca, Menshevik, and possibly minnow. Compare Latin minimum and minuō, Old High German minniro, Cornish minow.