slight
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: slīt
ipa: /slaɪt/
ipa: [slɑjt]
ipa: /slæʔ/
ipa: [sl̥æ̙ːʔ]
ipa: [sl̥ɐɪt]
ipa: [sl̥əɪ̯t]
note: African-American, General South African
ipa: /slaːt/
ipa: /slɑɪt/
ipa: /slɒɪt/
rhymes: -aɪt
homophone: sleight
Forms: form: slighter
form: slightest
Etymology: From Middle English slight (“bad, of poor quality, unimportant, trivial, slender, slim, smooth, level”), from Old English sliht (“smooth, level”), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“slippery, flat, level, plain”), related to English slick. Cognate with Scots slicht (“bad, of poor quality”), West Frisian sljocht (“smooth, level, plain, simple”), Dutch slecht (“bad”), Low German slecht (“bad”), German schlecht (“bad”) and schlicht (“plain, artless, natural”), Danish slet (“bad, evil, poor, nasty, wrong”), Swedish slät (“smooth”), Norwegian slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).
Senses: examples: text: give it a slight kick
text: a slight hint of cinnamon
text: a slight effort
text: a slight (i.e. not convincing) argument
text: Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension. She considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom,[…].
ref: 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
text: Even though there is slight quality variation between the long and short versions of Arabic vowels, the variation is rarely noticeable even by some phoneticians; hence, it does not amount to a source of even phonetic accent except for those learners of Arabic whose language has a strictly centrifugal vowel system such as Spanish, Italian, Tagalog, among others.
ref: 2014, Edward Y. Odisho, “Some Primary Sources of Accent Generation in the Pronunciation of Arabic by Native Speakers of English”, in Mediterranean Language Review, volume 21, →DOI, page 100 of 91–104:
synonyms: word: ignorable
word: meaningless
word: negligible
word: tiny
word: base
word: contemptible
word: foolish
word: for the birds
word: futile
word: frivolous
word: idle
word: ignorable
word: immaterial
word: inconsequential
word: inconsiderable
word: indifferent
word: insignificant
word: like a fart in a windstorm
word: meager
word: mean
word: minor
word: negligible
word: nothingburger
word: nondescript
word: paltry
word: petty
word: picayune
word: picayunish
word: piddling
word: piddly
word: pissant
word: pitiful
word: pointless
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: tin-pot
word: trifling
word: trivial
word: two-bit
word: unimportant
word: unweighty
word: vain
word: worthless
word: wretched
glosses: Minor; small in amount
Gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful.
examples: text: make a slight examination
synonyms: word: ignorable
word: meaningless
word: negligible
word: tiny
word: base
word: contemptible
word: foolish
word: for the birds
word: futile
word: frivolous
word: idle
word: ignorable
word: immaterial
word: inconsequential
word: inconsiderable
word: indifferent
word: insignificant
word: like a fart in a windstorm
word: meager
word: mean
word: minor
word: negligible
word: nothingburger
word: nondescript
word: paltry
word: petty
word: picayune
word: picayunish
word: piddling
word: piddly
word: pissant
word: pitiful
word: pointless
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: tin-pot
word: trifling
word: trivial
word: two-bit
word: unimportant
word: unweighty
word: vain
word: worthless
word: wretched
glosses: Minor; small in amount
Not thorough; superficial.
examples: text: we made a slight mistake
text: a slight pain
text: Some firmly embrace doctrines upon slight grounds.
ref: 1741, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education & of the Conduct of the Understanding:
text: Slight is the subject, but not so the praise.
ref: 1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, canto I:
synonyms: word: ignorable
word: meaningless
word: negligible
word: tiny
word: base
word: contemptible
word: foolish
word: for the birds
word: futile
word: frivolous
word: idle
word: ignorable
word: immaterial
word: inconsequential
word: inconsiderable
word: indifferent
word: insignificant
word: like a fart in a windstorm
word: meager
word: mean
word: minor
word: negligible
word: nothingburger
word: nondescript
word: paltry
word: petty
word: picayune
word: picayunish
word: piddling
word: piddly
word: pissant
word: pitiful
word: pointless
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: tin-pot
word: trifling
word: trivial
word: two-bit
word: unimportant
word: unweighty
word: vain
word: worthless
word: wretched
glosses: Minor; small in amount
Trifling; unimportant; insignificant.
examples: text: in the slight future
synonyms: word: ignorable
word: meaningless
word: negligible
word: tiny
word: base
word: contemptible
word: foolish
word: for the birds
word: futile
word: frivolous
word: idle
word: ignorable
word: immaterial
word: inconsequential
word: inconsiderable
word: indifferent
word: insignificant
word: like a fart in a windstorm
word: meager
word: mean
word: minor
word: negligible
word: nothingburger
word: nondescript
word: paltry
word: petty
word: picayune
word: picayunish
word: piddling
word: piddly
word: pissant
word: pitiful
word: pointless
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: tin-pot
word: trifling
word: trivial
word: two-bit
word: unimportant
word: unweighty
word: vain
word: worthless
word: wretched
glosses: Minor; small in amount
Not far away in space or time.
examples: text: a slight but graceful woman
text: his own figure, which was formerly so slight
ref: 1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak:
text: But now, ten years later, after his recent shipwreck, he cannot compete as a runner, though he can outthrow the slighter Phaeacians with the heaviest discus.
ref: 2002, Eva Brann, Homeric Moments, page 48:
synonyms: word: lithe
word: svelte
word: willowy
word: gaunt
word: gracile
word: lank
word: lean
word: leansome
word: lithe
word: lithesome
word: lissome
word: rangy
word: sleek
word: slender
word: slight
word: slim
word: slinky
word: svelte
word: swack
word: sylphlike
word: willowy
glosses: Of slender build.
examples: text: A slight stone
synonyms: word: flat
word: glassy
word: slick
word: downy
word: even
word: flat
word: frictionless
word: lanate
word: level
word: silken
word: silklike
word: silky
word: sleek
word: slick
word: slight
word: smooth
word: velutinous
word: velvety
glosses: Even, smooth or level.
examples: text: The sea was slight and calm
glosses: Still; with little or no movement on the surface.
raw_tags: said of the sea
examples: text: But no beast ever was so slight,
For man, as for his god, to fight;
They have more wit, alas! and know
Themselves and us better than so.
ref: 1859, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Canto 1, lines 781-784:
synonyms: word: daft
word: fatuous
word: soft in the head
word: asinine
word: balmy
word: barmy
word: bedaft
word: loony
word: daft
word: derpy
word: dim-headed
word: dim-witted
word: dopey
word: dull-headed
word: dull-witted
word: dumb
word: duncical
word: fatuous
word: fuzzy-headed
word: fuzzy-minded
word: gauvison
word: goofy
word: idiotic
word: idle
word: insipient
word: mookish
word: naive
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: slow-witted
word: softheaded
word: soft in the head
word: sottish
word: stupid
word: thick
raw_tags: not of action
word: unsage
word: unwise
word: wool-headed
word: woolly-headed
word: woolly-minded
word: crackpot
word: dense
glosses: Foolish; silly; not intellectual.
examples: 1889 (first published), George Washington, Writings
we frequently have slight Goods and sometimes old and unsaleable Articles
synonyms: word: flimsy
word: lousy
word: shoddy
word: ass
word: bad
word: base
word: below par
word: broken
word: bum
word: cheap
word: chintzy
word: crappo
word: crappy
word: craptastic
word: crapperific
word: craptabulous
word: craptacular
word: crummy
word: flimsy
word: inferior
word: lousy
word: low
word: low-grade
word: pitiful
word: poor
word: rinky-dink
word: rubbish
word: sad
word: schlocky
word: shoddy
word: slight
word: slim
word: sorry
word: subpar
word: shitty
word: substandard
word: tin-pot
word: unacceptable
word: unfit
word: unsatisfactory
word: unsound
word: unsuitable
word: woeful
word: wretched
glosses: Bad, of poor quality.
examples: text: This slight way of treating both his book and his ancestors nettled little Puddock – who never himself took a liberty, and expected similar treatment – but he knew Sturk, the nature of the beast, and he only bowed grandly […]
ref: 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
synonyms: word: contemptuous
word: disdainful
word: scornful
word: belittling
word: contemptuous
word: deprecative
word: derogative
word: despising
word: disdainful
word: dismissive
word: disrespectful
word: low
word: scornful
word: slight
word: slighting
word: sneerful
word: sniffy
glosses: Slighting; treating with disdain.
Derived terms: slightful
slighting
slightish
slightly
slightness