English Explanatory Dictionary

slight

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Minor; small in amount
  2. Gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful.
  3. Not thorough; superficial.
  4. Trifling; unimportant; insignificant.
  5. Not far away in space or time.
  6. Of slender build.
  7. Even, smooth or level.
  8. Still; with little or no movement on the surface.
  9. Foolish; silly; not intellectual.
  10. Bad, of poor quality.
  11. Slighting; treating with disdain.
verb
  1. To treat as unimportant or not worthy of attention; to make light of.
  2. To give lesser weight or importance to.
  3. To treat (someone or something) with disdain or neglect, usually out of prejudice, hatred, or jealousy; to ignore disrespectfully; to skimp on one's duties toward.
  4. To act negligently or carelessly.
  5. To render no longer defensible by full or partial demolition.
  6. To make even or level.
  7. To throw heedlessly.
noun
  1. The act of ignoring or snubbing; a deliberate act of neglect or discourtesy.
  2. Sleight.
name
  1. A surname from Middle English.

Pronunciation

slīt /slaɪt/ [slɑjt] /slæʔ/ [sl̥æ̙ːʔ] [sl̥ɐɪt] [sl̥əɪ̯t] en-us-slight.ogg /slaːt/ /slɑɪt/ /slɒɪt/

Word forms

slight slighter slightest slights slighting slighted

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”).

Synonyms

ignorable meaningless negligible tiny base contemptible floccinaucinihilipilificatious foolish for the birds futile frivolous idle immaterial inconsequential inconsiderable indifferent insignificant like a fart in a windstorm meager mean minor miserable nothingburger nondescript null paltry petty picayune picayunish piddling piddly pissant pissass piteous pitiful pointless silly simple slight ticky-tacky tin-pot trifling trivial two-bit unimportant unweighty vain worthless wretched lithe svelte willowy gaunt gracile lank lean leansome lithesome lissome rangy

Antonyms

respect value esteem honor idolize lay store by look up to prize hallow put store by put store in rate regard revere set store by venerate worthy

Derived words

overslight slighten slightful slighting slightish slightly slightness slightingly put a slight on put a slight upon slightsome

Translations

Arabic: طَفِيف Bulgarian: малък Bulgarian: незначителен Catalan: feble Catalan: dèbil Chinese Mandarin: 輕微的 /轻微的 Czech: nepatrný Czech: drobný Czech: maličký Dutch: onbeduidend Finnish: vähäinen Finnish: heikko Finnish: pieni Finnish: pintapuolinen Finnish: lievä Finnish: välitön Finnish: hienoinen Finnish: vieno French: insignifiant French: léger German: geringfügig German: leicht German: gering German: unbedeutend German: wenig German: schlank German: schwach German: klein German: unerheblich German: unwichtig Hindi: थोड़ा Hungarian: csekély Hungarian: jelentéktelen Hungarian: kevés Hungarian: kevéske Italian: insignificante Italian: leggero Italian: debole Italian: lieve Japanese: 僅な Japanese: 些細な Japanese: 軽微な Japanese: 末梢的な Japanese: つまらない Korean: 약간의 Latin: sublestus Polish: drobny Polish: mały Portuguese: insignificante Portuguese: ligeiro Portuguese: leve Russian: незначи́тельный Serbo-Croatian: бе̏знача̄јан Serbo-Croatian: bȅznačājan Spanish: insignificante Spanish: leve Spanish: ligero Spanish: lene Spanish: lieve Swedish: obetydlig Ukrainian: незначний Ukrainian: легкий Ukrainian: слабкий
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