Smalltime

Smalltime is an English term used to describe activities, people, or enterprises of limited scale or significance. It is most commonly encountered in the compound adjective small-time, as in small-time criminal, small-time operator, or small-time business. In some modern usages, the term can appear as a closed compound, smalltime, particularly in informal contexts, but the hyphenated form remains standard in careful writing. The phrase can also function as a noun in colloquial speech, referring to petty criminals or minor operations collectively, for example, “a gang of smalltime crooks.”

The etymology traces to a figurative extension of “small” and “time,” signaling something not in the “big time” or major leagues. In usage, smalltime conveys informal, non-professional, or marginal status, and can carry pejorative connotations when applied to people. It is often contrasted with big-time or high-profile activity. In literature and media, smalltime characters and schemes are commonly used to depict ordinary, working-class, or petty criminal life, or to highlight social or economic constraints that limit ambition.

Related terms include petty crime, petty, and the contrast with big time as an antonym. The word's flexibility allows both descriptive and evaluative uses, but context typically guides whether it reads as neutral description or a mild demeaning label.