Which of these is smaller in size: minuscule or tiny?

Question

The edges of the area, where it merged with normal skin, was deep violet and crusty, with hundreds of (?????) dry speckles.

I want the speckles to be as small as possible, without having to write an essay about their smallness. I have eliminated the other choices of words (small, little etc) and am left with two choices: tiny and minuscule. Which of these (a minuscule speckle and a tiny speckle) would be smaller than the other?

I am aware that most of the time, such subtle differences are not probed in depth by the reader. Here, I am concerned with the impression that the word creates in the mind, not what it specifically means. As in, I want the speckles to feel as small as possible, to a general English language reader. I am writing fiction, not a scientific report.

Subit Das · Accepted Answer

It will be minuscule if the speckles are microscopic. It will be tiny if the speckles are visible to eyes. 
I think there is a spelling error in the subject. It should be minuscule  not miniscule.

You are aware that minuscule and tiny are synonyms. So I did not go into explaining the dictionary meaning. While minuscule is used to describe tiny things, I have never seen tiny is ever used to describe microscopic particles like neurons, microorganisms or DNA. Some common examples of tiny are - tiny flower, tiny baby, tiny bird, tiny tots etc which are visible. I have never seen anybody saying - minuscule flower, minuscule baby or minuscule bird. Similarly minuscule scripts are some letters, not visible to normal eyes.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/minuscule

Dale M · Answer

Technically, they are synonyms so go with whichever suits you.

To my mind (and that is all that it is) miniscule sounds slightly more exotic, perhaps because its multi-syllabic.

If you want the ultimate in small you could always go with Plank-scale.

Helmar · Answer

The usual way to describe speckles is tiny. However, minuscule could be considered smaller.

ODO: minuscule

Extremely small; tiny

ODO: tiny

Very small

Most people probably consider extremely a a higher escalation than very. Although, tiny is listed as description of minuscule.

If you have a look at the corresponding ngram there are no hits for minuscule, or miniscule (which is just an old way of spelling it), while tiny is right there in-midst of the most used adjectives with speckles. If you look at the results, you might also consider fine speckles.

Which of these is smaller in size: minuscule or tiny?

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