Biggish

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Somewhat larger than average, but not quite large
2. Of a size that exceeds small, yet lacks the full quality of large
3. Having a size that is noticeably above medium but does not reach the threshold of large

Etymology: "Biggish" is simply "big" with the suffix "-ish" attached, and the suffix is the more ancient piece. "-ish" traces back through Old English "-isc" to a Proto-Germanic form, and its distant ancestor is reconstructed as a Proto-Indo-European "-iskos" with a sense of belonging to or resembling something. Its earliest English use was as a marker of nationality and origin, as in "Danish" and "English", before it spread into a general way of saying "somewhat like" a quality. "Big" is the older word's younger cousin in English, a Middle English arrival whose origin is uncertain. Attaching "-ish" to it gives the sense of a size that is above the ordinary but short of truly large. Because the suffix works on adjectives like "green" and "tall" in the same way, "biggish" follows a pattern that English speakers use freely whenever they want to hedge a description.

Synonyms: fairly large, somewhat big, moderately large, reasonably large, relatively big

Antonyms: small, tiny, miniature, petite, little