The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word LOWER CASE
L
O
W
E
R
C
A
S
E
More clues leading to the result LOWER CASE
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Small characters" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case small characters = lower case.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does LOWER CASE mean?
LOWER CASE adjective- In lower case