overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

few.

An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

det/fjuː//fɪu̯/Wales

  1. An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

    There are a few cars (=some, but a relatively small number) in the street.
    Quite a few people (=a significant number) were pleasantly surprised.

  2. Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

    Very few did she have not to go there, did she?
    I was expecting a big crowd at the party, but very few people (=almost none) turned up.

  3. Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.

    Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.

  4. (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English fewe, from Old English fēaw (“few”), from Proto-West Germanic *fau, from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon fā (“few”), Old High German fao, fō (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍃 (faus, “few”). Also related with Latin paucus (“little, few”) and pauper (“poor”), from which latter English poor and pauper; see these.

pron/fjuː//fɪu̯/Wales

  1. Few people, few things.

    Many are called, but few are chosen.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English fewe, from Old English fēaw (“few”), from Proto-West Germanic *fau, from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon fā (“few”), Old High German fao, fō (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍃 (faus, “few”). Also related with Latin paucus (“little, few”) and pauper (“poor”), from which latter English poor and pauper; see these.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

few has 3 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

few studiofew workshello, few

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.