dwarfism

dwarf +‎ -ism

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdwɔɹfɪzəm/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdwɔːfɪzəm/

dwarfism (countable and uncountable, plural dwarfisms)

1. The condition of being a dwarf (person of short stature).
   • 1985, J. D. Esko et al., “Animal Cell Mutants Defective in Glycosaminoglycan Biosynthesis”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, volume 82, number 10, page 3200:

     Studies of disproportionate dwarfisms in animals have revealed the importance of core proteins an sulfation in the development of cartilage.

2. The quality of being puny or inferior.
   • 2011, Peter Burt, Fables, page 124:

     Childish, childish to the core: that's why they're so good at nursing, they're arrested in a state of permanent intellectual dwarfism themselves!

• Amsterdam dwarfism
• island dwarfism