slender
See also: Slender
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English slendre, sclendre, from Old French esclendre (“thin, slender”), from Old Dutch slinder (“thin, lank”), from Proto-Germanic *slindraz (“sliding, slippery”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“to slip”). Cognate with Bavarian Schlenderling (“that which dangles”), German schlendern (“to saunter, stroll”), Dutch slidderen, slinderen (“to wriggle, creep like a serpent”), Low German slindern (“to slide on ice”). More at slide, slither.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈslɛndə/
- (General American) enPR: slĕnʹdər, IPA(key): /ˈslɛndɚ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: slen‧der
Adjective edit
slender (comparative slenderer, superlative slenderest)
- Thin; slim.
- A rod is a long slender pole used for angling.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.
- (figurative) meagre; deficient
- Being a person of slender means, he was unable to afford any luxuries.
- 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 413:
- The grounds for the conjecture are somewhat slender.
- 2022 January 26, Barry Doe, “Fabrik offers an end to hard times”, in RAIL, number 949, page 42:
- The slender service between Ellesmere Port and Helsby has been added, too.
- (Gaelic languages) Palatalized.
Synonyms edit
- (thin): lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender
- (meagre): insufficient, scarce, sparse; see also Thesaurus:inadequate
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "palatalized"): broad
- See also Thesaurus:obese
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
thin
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