តូច
touc
The English phrase small is translated into Khmer as តូច (touc).
The word តូច is an adjective used to describe something that is not large.
Meaning: not large (adj)
Which one should you use?
The antonym of តូច (small) is ធំ (large/big).
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is touc.
Did you know?
- In Khmer culture, តូច is frequently used as a nickname or a way to refer to the youngest child in a family, regardless of their actual physical size.
- While English speakers use 'small' to describe a person's stature, using តូច for a person in Khmer can sometimes sound condescending or imply they are 'lowly' in status.
- Khmer speakers often use reduplication (repeating the word) to emphasize an extreme degree of smallness, much more frequently than English speakers use 'very small'.
Examples in context
- ធំឬតូច?Large or small?This sentence is useful for asking whether something is large or small using តូច.Tatoeba #11475229 by Vethya, translation #275473 by CM
- ពិភពលោកតូច។Small world.This sentence is useful for saying the phrase small world using តូច.Tatoeba #11475226 by Vethya, translation #2280858 by ichivivi20
- សហគមន៍តូចមានភាសាដ៏សាមញ្ញ។The small community has a simple language.This sentence is useful for describing a small community using តូច.Tatoeba #11475236 by Vethya, translation #9981751 by carlosalberto
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ratan and Mali are looking at a house for sale.
- រតនៈ Ratanakផ្ទះនេះតូចពេកសម្រាប់យើង។phteah nih touch pek samrab yeung.This house is too small for us.
- ម៉ាលី Malyបាទ ប៉ុន្តែវាស្អាតណាស់។bat pon-tae vea s-at nah.Yes, but it is very beautiful.
- រតនៈ Ratanakតើអ្នកចង់រកផ្ទះដែលធំជាងនេះទេ?tae neak chong rok phteah dael thom cheang nih te?Do you want to look for a house bigger than this?
- ម៉ាលី Malyចាស ខ្ញុំចង់បានផ្ទះមិនតូចពេកទេ។chas khnom chong ban phteah min touch pek te.Yes, I want a house that is not too small.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “small” translations and entries តូច, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
