dwarfism

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

dwarf +‎ -ism

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

dwarfism (countable and uncountable, plural dwarfisms)

  1. The condition of being a dwarf (person of short stature).
    • 1985, J. D. Esko et al., “Animal Cell Mutants Defective in Glycosaminoglycan Biosynthesis”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, volume 82, number 10, page 3200:
      Studies of disproportionate dwarfisms in animals have revealed the importance of core proteins an sulfation in the development of cartilage.
  2. The quality of being puny or inferior.
    • 2011, Peter Burt, Fables, page 124:
      Childish, childish to the core: that's why they're so good at nursing, they're arrested in a state of permanent intellectual dwarfism themselves!

Derived terms[edit]

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