small wonder meaning: definition, quotations

small wonder

noun

Idiomatic An event or fact whose cause or rationale is not difficult to discern; an unsurprising occurrence.

Small wonder if he had loved her for herself, she was so beautiful.1891, F. Marion Crawford, chapter 24, in The Witch of Prague:
Small wonder that I am restless. I think, and think, and I cannot cease from thinking.1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 1, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:

4 more examples

Small wonder that you can't believe my words—you who think yourself sage enough to reject the opinions of your parents and superiors.1910, Rabindranath Tagore, The King of the Dark Chamber, Scene 1:
That she was beautiful and intelligent could not be denied, and so it was small wonder that she might appeal strongly to any man.1929, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 2, in Monster Men:
Small wonder the average cost of new pools has leaped past $30,000.2004 August 16, Jeremy Caplan, “What's Cool In the Pool”, in Time:
In retrospect, it was small wonder that Railtrack found its finances under pressure, as with ever increasing demand there was an inevitable effect on infrastructure renewals. Matters came to a head with the Hatfield accident on October 17 2000, when there was a high-speed derailment as a result of deferred track maintenance.2024 January 10, 'Industry Insider', “Success built on liberalisation and market freedom”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 69:

adv

Idiomatic No surprise; unsurprising that.

I soon discovered that Smith was heels over head in love with Kate Stevens, shot through the heart as Mercutio would say, with a fair girl's blue eye! And small wonder, for Kate was lovely; a little above middle height with slight, rounded figure and most attractive face1922, Frank Harris, “X”, in My Life and Loves: