slender
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (4)slenderer, slenderest
- being of delicate or slender build“she was slender as a willow shoot is slender — Frank Norris”“a slim girl with straight blonde hair”“watched her slight figure cross the street”Synonyms: slightslimsvelteOpposite fatSimilar thin, leanSee also slim thick
- very narrow“a thin line across the page”Synonyms: thinOpposite broadSimilar narrow
- having little width in proportion to the length or height“a slender pole”Opposite thickSimilar thin
- small in quantity“slender wages”“a slim chance of winning”“a slender surplus”Synonyms: slimOpposite large, bigSimilar small, little
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. slendre, sclendre, fr. OD. slinder thin, slender, perhaps through a French form; cf. OD. slinderen, slidderen, to creep; perh. akin to E. slide.
1. Small or narrow in proportion to the length or the height; not thick; slim; as, a slender stem or stalk of a plant. “A slender, choleric man.” Geoffrey Chaucer
She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadorned golden tresses wore.— John Milton
2. Weak; feeble; not strong; slight; as, slender hope; a slender constitution.
Mighty hearts are held in slender chains.— Alexander Pope
They have inferred much from slender premises.— Cardinal John Henry Newman
The slender utterance of the consonants.— J. Byrne.
3. Moderate; trivial; inconsiderable; slight; as, a man of slender intelligence.
A slender degree of patience will enable him to enjoy both the humor and the pathos.— Sir Walter Scott
4. Small; inadequate; meager; pitiful; as, slender means of support; a slender pittance.
Frequent begging makes slender alms.— Thomas Fuller
5. Spare; abstemious; frugal; as, a slender diet.
The good Ostorius often deigned To grace my slender table with his presence.— Ambrose Philips
6. Phon. Uttered with a thin tone; — the opposite of broad; as, the slender vowels long e and i.
— Slen′wb-a1′>′der·ly, adverb — Slen′wb-a1′>′der·ness, noun
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54