slim
Part of speech: adj
noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Borrowing from Low German or Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”), from Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”), from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-West Germanic *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”). The sense development would have been "slanting, cunning" (Dutch) > "insignificant, slight" and then "thin, graceful" in English, a shift that Liberman calls an "incredible amelioration" of word meaning.
The pejorative sense found in Low German and Dutch is also found preserved in the archaic English noun slim (“worthless or lazy person”), also comparable to the South African use of the adjective as "crafty, sly."
Compare Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”), Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”), German schlimm (“bad”), West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”).
Inflected forms:
form: slimmer
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: slimmest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: slims
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: Slim
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: slims
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: slimming
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: slimmed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: slimmed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Slender; thin.
pos: adj
examples: Movie stars are usually slim, attractive, and young.
gloss: Slender; thin.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
gloss: Slender; thin.
pos: adj
gloss: Slender; thin.
pos: adj
gloss: Very small, tiny.
pos: adj
examples: I'm afraid your chances are quite slim.
Juries who will convict on the slimmest evidence.
Wolves' debatable third in the last 10 minutes, with the ball only crossing the line by the slimmest of margins if at all, ensured a cracking finale, although City would have been left aggrieved had they let the win slip.
gloss: Bad, of questionable quality; not strongly built, flimsy.
pos: adj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
examples: A slimly-shod lad;
a slimly-made cart.
gloss: Sly, crafty.
pos: adj
tags: South-Africa
obsolete
gloss: A type of cigarette substantially longer and thinner than normal cigarettes.
pos: noun
examples: I only smoke slims.
gloss: A potato farl.
pos: noun
tags: Ireland
regional
gloss: AIDS, or the chronic wasting associated with its later stages.
pos: noun
tags: Africa
East
uncountable
examples: As in the West, only about 50 per cent of patients with slim fully investigated will have a putative pathogen identified.
gloss: Cocaine.
pos: noun
tags: slang
uncountable
gloss: To lose weight in order to achieve slimness.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To make slimmer; to reduce in size.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
Derived words: slim client
slim-fit
slim jim
slimline
slimly
slimmish
slimnastics
slim pickings
slimplectic
slimsy
slim-thick
slimwear
slimwing
slimwood
superslim
ultraslim
unslim
slim down
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: نَحِيل
roman: naḥīl
lang: Arabic
word: نَحِيف
roman: naḥīf
lang: Arabic
word: أَهْيَف
roman: ʔahyaf
lang: Azerbaijani
word: incə
lang: Bashkir
word: ябыҡ
roman: yabıq
lang: Belarusian
word: худы́
roman: xudý
lang: Belarusian
word: стро́йны
roman: strójny
lang: Belarusian
word: стро́мкі
roman: strómki
lang: Bulgarian
word: тъ́нък
roman: tǎ́nǎk
lang: Bulgarian
word: стро́ен
roman: stróen
lang: Catalan
word: prim
lang: Cherokee
word: ᎤᎴᏐᏓ
roman: ulesoda
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 苗條 /苗条
roman: miáotiáo
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 纖細 /纤细
roman: xiānxì
lang: Czech
word: štíhlý
lang: Danish
word: slank
lang: Danish
word: tynd
lang: Dutch
word: slank
lang: Dutch
word: dun
lang: Esperanto
word: svelta
lang: Finnish
word: hoikka
lang: Finnish
word: laiha
lang: French
word: mince
lang: French
word: svelte
lang: German
word: schlank
lang: German
word: schmal
lang: German
word: dünn
lang: Greek
word: λεπτός
roman: leptós
lang: Greek
word: ραδινός
roman: radinós
lang: Greek
word: βράδινος
roman: brádinos
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ῥαδινός
roman: rhadinós
lang: Hindi
word: पतला
roman: patlā
lang: Hungarian
word: karcsú
lang: Hungarian
word: vékony
lang: Ido
word: dina
lang: Indonesian
word: langsing
lang: Indonesian
word: ramping
lang: Irish
word: caol
lang: Irish
word: tanaí
lang: Irish
word: seang
lang: Italian
word: snello
lang: Italian
word: magro
lang: Italian
word: affusolato
lang: Japanese
word: ほっそりした
roman: hossori shita
lang: Japanese
word: 細い
roman: hosoi
lang: Japanese
word: スリムな
roman: surimu na
lang: Korean
word: 날씬하다
roman: nalssinhada
lang: Latin
word: gracilis
lang: Latvian
word: slaids
lang: Latvian
word: tievs
lang: Latvian
word: smuidrs
lang: Macedonian
word: слаб
roman: slab
lang: Macedonian
word: тенок
roman: tenok
lang: Macedonian
word: виток
roman: vitok
lang: Neapolitan
word: magro
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: slank
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: tynn
lang: Plautdietsch
word: schlank
lang: Plautdietsch
word: denn
lang: Polish
word: szczupły
lang: Polish
word: smukły
lang: Portuguese
word: magro
lang: Portuguese
word: esbelto
lang: Portuguese
word: esguio
lang: Portuguese
word: delgado
lang: Romanian
word: zvelt
lang: Romanian
word: subțire
lang: Russian
word: стро́йный
roman: strójnyj
lang: Russian
word: худо́й
roman: xudój
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: caol
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: seang
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: ви̏так
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: мр̏шав
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: vȉtak
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: mȑšav
lang: Slovak
word: štíhly
lang: Slovene
word: vitek
lang: Spanish
word: flaco
lang: Spanish
word: delgado
lang: Swedish
word: slank
lang: Swedish
word: tunn
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: ضعیف
roman: zaʼif
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: نازك
roman: nâzik
lang: Ukrainian
word: худи́й
roman: xudýj
lang: Ukrainian
word: струнки́й
roman: strunkýj
lang: Ukrainian
word: стрімки́й
roman: strimkýj
lang: Urdu
word: پتلا
roman: patlā
lang: Vietnamese
word: mảnh khảnh
lang: Volapük
word: lunedik
lang: Welsh
word: main
lang: Zazaki
word: barı (diq)
lang: Zazaki
word: bari (diq)