Meaning & use
little known
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
not familiar to many people; known by only a small number of people.
Grammar: Used after a verb or before a noun; it does not take 'very' in the same way as ordinary adjectives.
Patterns
- little-known + noun
- be little known
- little known outside + place
She wrote a book about a little-known inventor from her hometown.
The band was little known until a song appeared in a popular film.
This custom is little known outside the region where it began.
adjectivenot comparable
not widely studied, reported, or understood, especially when more information would be useful.
Grammar: Often describes facts, details, or history rather than people.
Patterns
- a little-known fact
- little-known history
- remain little known
The guide shares little-known facts about the city's old subway tunnels.
Her role in the discovery remained little known for many years.
Researchers are studying a little-known language spoken by a few hundred people.
Common combinations
- a little-known fact
- Here is a little-known fact: the park was once a factory site.
- little-known artist
- The gallery devoted a room to a little-known artist from the 1920s.
- little known outside
- The dish is popular locally but little known outside the area.
- remain little known
- Despite the award, his later poems remain little known.
Synonyms and how they differ
- obscure
- Stronger and often slightly negative; it can suggest something is hard to find or almost forgotten.
- unfamiliar
- Focuses on the listener or reader not knowing something, while 'little known' focuses on few people knowing it.
- unknown
- Stronger: it means no one or almost no one knows it, whereas 'little known' allows that some people do.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: little known or little known about?
little known vs little known about
This phrase means not much information is available, as in 'Little is known about the writer's early life.' It is different from calling something little known.
Practice
The village is ______ outside the valley, so few tourists ever visit.
Choose one answer.
'Little known' is the correct adjective phrase after 'is.' 'Little knowing' is a participle phrase meaning 'not realizing,' 'a little known' wrongly adds an article, and 'little to know' is not a standard phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “little known”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.