ensmallen

English

Etymology

small +‎ en- -en, by analogy with embiggen. Attested from 2002.

Logical antonym of "embiggen," a humorous neologism popularized by television writer David X. Cohen; see 1996 quotation.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsmɔːlən/, (US) IPA^(key): /ɛnˈsmɔlən/
• Hyphenation: en‧small‧en

Verb

ensmallen (third-person singular simple present ensmallens, present participle ensmallening, simple past and past participle ensmallened)

1. (humorous, transitive) To make smaller.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:ensmallen.

Synonyms

• (make smaller): debigulate

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “make bigger”): embiggen

Translations

Make smaller

• Chinese: Mandarin: 缩小 (zh) (suōxiǎo)
• Japanese: 縮小する (しゅくしょうする, shukushō suru)
• Polish: pomniejszyć, pomniejszać (pl)
• Swedish: förminska (sv)

Anagrams

• Mennellas