slim

[ slim ]
See synonyms for slim on Thesaurus.com
adjective,slim·mer, slim·mest.
  1. slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.

  2. poor or inferior: a slim chance; a slim excuse.

  1. small or inconsiderable; meager; scanty: a slim income.

  2. sized for the thinner than average person.

verb (used with object),slimmed, slim·ming.
  1. to make slim.

verb (used without object),slimmed, slim·ming.
  1. to become slim.

  2. Chiefly British. to try to become more slender, especially by dieting.

noun
  1. a garment size meant for a thin person.

Verb Phrases
  1. slim down,

    • to lose weight, especially intentionally.

    • (of a business) to reduce operating expenses; economize.

Origin of slim

1
1650–60; <Dutch slim sly, (earlier) crooked (cognate with German schlimm bad, (earlier) crooked)

synonym study For slim

1. See slender.

Other words for slim

Opposites for slim

Other words from slim

  • slimly, adverb
  • slimness, noun
  • un·slim, adjective
  • un·slim·ly, adverb
  • un·slim·ness, noun
  • un·slimmed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use slim in a sentence

  • Michael admired her slimness and tallness, but he wished that men would not turn round and stare at her as she passed them.

    Sinister Street, vol. 1 | Compton Mackenzie
  • In this same class might also be found leanness and slimness, which form a class different from the four preceding ideas.

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • The slimness of his waist was filled in so well that he looked no more than a well-grown, clean-limbed stripling of twenty.

    Joan of the Sword Hand | S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett
  • The fingers were long and tapered to almond-shaped nails, and for all its slimness and delicacy it was yet a strong hand.

    The Angel of Pain | E. F. Benson
  • Now, she recalled with a twinge of envy that the accused girl had been of an aristocratic slimness of form.

    Within the Law | Marvin Dana

British Dictionary definitions for slim (1 of 3)

slim

/ (slɪm) /


adjectiveslimmer or slimmest
  1. small in width relative to height or length

  2. small in amount or quality: slim chances of success

verbslims, slimming or slimmed
  1. to make or become slim, esp by diets and exercise

  2. to reduce or decrease or cause to be reduced or decreased

Origin of slim

1
C17: from Dutch: crafty, from Middle Dutch slimp slanting; compare Old High German slimbi obliquity

Derived forms of slim

  • slimly, adverb
  • slimmer, noun
  • slimness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Slim (2 of 3)

Slim1

/ (slɪm) /


noun
  1. the E African name for AIDS

Origin of Slim

2
from its wasting effects

British Dictionary definitions for Slim (3 of 3)

Slim2

/ (slɪm) /


noun
  1. William Joseph, 1st Viscount. 1891–1970, British field marshal, who commanded (1943–45) the 14th Army in the reconquest of Burma (now called Myanmar) from the Japanese; governor general of Australia (1953–60)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012