Nielicznych

Nielicznych is a form of the Polish adjective nieliczny, used to describe a small number of people or things. The word conveys that something occurs only to a limited extent or is not numerous, without specifying an exact count. It is commonly translated as “few,” “a handful,” or “scarce.”

Grammatically, nieliczny is an inflected adjective. It agrees with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case. In plural genitive or plural accusative, the form is nielicznych (for example: wśród nielicznych ofiar, nielicznych osób). In masculine plural nominative, it is nieliczni (as in: Nieliczni naukowcy poparli teorię). In feminine plural nominative, it is nieliczne; in feminine singular it is nieliczna. The adjective is often used attributively, but can also function predicatively in constructions like “Ludzie byli nieliczni.”

Usage and nuance: nieliczny emphasizes scarcity rather than a precise number. It is commonly contrasted with numerically defined quantities such as kilkunastu (about a dozen) or wymieniane w kontekście statystyk, badaniach i opisach historycznych. It often appears in formal or literary text, news reporting, and scholarly writing to indicate that only a small portion of a group is affected or involved.

Synonyms and related terms include kilka (a few), kilka osób, garstka, ani kilkunastu, w niektórych przypadkach. The word is distinct in its focus on being not many rather than unspecified amount.