likkle

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Jamaican Creole likkle, from English little.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪ.kəl/, /ˈlɪ.kəw/, /ˈlɪ.kəʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɪkəl

Adjective

likkle (comparative more likkle, superlative most likkle)

1. (Caribbean, MTE, MLE, Yorkshire, Lancashire, slang) Little.
   • 2007 January 8, Amy Winehouse, “You Know I'm No Good” (track 2), in Back to Black:

     I'm in the tub, you on the seat / Lick your lips as I soap my feet / Then you notice likkle carpet burn / My stomach drop and my guts churn

   • 2017, Stormzy, Karl Joseph, Dizzee Rascal, “Return of the Rucksack” (track 11), in Gang Signs & Prayer, performed by Stormzy:

     But I roll deep on these / Show these likkle MCs about greaze / Show these likkle MCs about me / I was on my steeze from 2003

   • 2021 April 20, @WirthMaisha, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 23 July 2023:

     A likkle bit of brown for my twitter TL too🤎

   • 2022 December 28, @xhosa_aquarian, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 23 July 2023:

     Got myself my car / Bagged my degree / Got myself a likkle apartment

Jamaican Creole

Alternative forms

• lickkle, lickle, little

Etymology

From English little.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪkl/
• Hyphenation: li‧kkle

Adjective

likkle

1. little, small

   Antonym: big

   Da one deh too likkle. Gimme wan nex' one.

   That one's too small. Give me another one.

   • 1989, Charles Hyatt, When Me was a Boy (in Jamaican Creole), →ISBN, page 23:

     “When me was a boy — likkle boy — my mother use to dress me up inna pretty 'dan dan' when ah going out y'see. […] ”

     When I was a boy — a little boy — my mother used to dress me up in a fancy 'child's outfit' when I was going out, you see. […]

Determiner

likkle

1. a little, some

   Antonyms: nuff, a bag a, a crocus bag a

   Miss T, beg yuh likkle flour, nuh?

   Ms. T, may I have some flour?

   • 2019, Curdella Forbes, A Tall History of Sugar (in Jamaican Creole), →ISBN:

     “Next time, quail a bird-pepper leaf in di wood fire an tie it on wid likkle kerosene oil from di lamp. Mek sure is oil dat use, di one from di lamp, not new oil. […] ”

     Next time, soften the bird-pepper leaf in the wood fire and tie it on with a little kerosene oil from the lamp. Make sure that you're using the old oil from the lamp, and not fresh oil. […]