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Definition of minor adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

minor

adjective
 
/ˈmaɪnə(r)/
 
/ˈmaɪnər/
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  1. [usually before noun] not very large, important or serious
    • The new plan involves widening a minor road through the valley.
    • Both the driver and the passenger suffered minor injuries.
    • You may need to undergo minor surgery.
    • Most of these youths are in prison for minor offences.
    • minor modifications/adjustments
    • There may be some minor changes to the schedule.
    • He played a relatively minor role in the organization.
    • The minor characters in the story are all well drawn.
    • When you drive a classic car, you expect a few minor problems.
    opposite major
    Homophones miner | minorminer   minor
     
    /ˈmaɪnə(r)/
     
    /ˈmaɪnər/
    • miner noun
      • He started work as a coal miner at 14.
    • minor adjective
      • The novel is now regarded as a minor classic.
    • minor noun
      • She arrived in the country as an unaccompanied minor.
    Extra Examples
    • That's a relatively minor matter. We can leave it till later.
    • This is a very minor operation and there is very little risk involved.
    • A minor snag is that it's expensive.
    • His only injuries were some minor scratches above his eye.
    • Minor skirmishes broke out all along the border.
    • The album contains a number of delightful short pieces by minor composers.
    • The letter's survival is something of a minor miracle.
    • These are minor quibbles in a film that really works for me.
    • Adverse weather had been a minor inconvenience at times.
    • In many ways this film is a minor miracle.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • seem
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    See full entry
  2. (music) based on a scale in which the third note is a semitone / half step higher than the second note
    • the key of C minor
    compare majorTopics Musicc1
  3. Word OriginMiddle English: from Latin, ‘smaller, less’; related to minuere ‘lessen’. The term originally denoted a Franciscan friar, suggested by the Latin name Fratres Minores (‘Lesser Brethren’), chosen by St Francis for the order.
See minor in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee minor in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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