slight Definition
slight (slīt)
adjective
- light in form or build; not stout or heavy; slender
- frail; fragile
- having little weight, strength, substance, or significance a slight criticism
- small in amount or extent; not great or intense a slight fever
Etymology: ME (northern dial.) sliht < OE, kin to OHG sleht, straight, smooth: for IE base see slick
transitive verb
- to do carelessly or poorly; neglect
- to treat with disrespect or indifference; be discourteous toward
- to treat as unimportant
noun
a slighting or being slighted by pointedly indifferent, disrespectful, or supercilious treatment
slight Related Forms
slight′ly adverb
slight′·ness noun
slight Synonyms
slight
modif.
Trifling
insignificant, petty, piddling; see trivial, unimportant.Inconsiderable
small, sparse, scanty; see inadequate 1.Delicate
slight Synonyms
slight Usage Examples
Preposition: of
- hand: Your anecdotes, metaphors and slight of hand brought so much life to the presentation.
- wrist: It is not for the feint of heart, or slight of wrist.
Infinitive complement
make: And, nearly everything here is slight enough to make toilet tissue seem substantial.
Modifies a noun
- fading: There is some slight fading of some of the World War II lettering on the side.
- variation: There may be slight variations in finish due to the individual nature of each leather piece used.
- hint: Of course, some of you may have noticed a slight hint of sarcasm there?
- breeze: Also, flying in a slight breeze is quite tricky.
- delay: There may be a slight delay whilst your details are checked.
- exaggeration: She lands standing up - well, slight exaggeration.
Modifying Another Word
- comparatively: The defects in both of these tales are comparatively slight.
- however: In this task, therefore, you combine your knowledge of search engines with your knowledge ( however slight!
- very: There's a very slight change in the wording - " Put me on to Scotland Yard QUICK!
- only: There were only slight rises on each of the other channels.
- rather: He was not a big man, like his father, but rather slight of build and with a very quiet, unassuming manner.
- even: Sadly, the extras are even slighter than Kill Bill part 1.
Used with adjective complement
- seem: Review A deceptively subtle episode which seems slight on the surface but actually contains many key themes and moments.
- have: She also had slight blistering spotting across her back around the mark.
- remain: However I don't suppose that we will win, or the chances remain slight.
- perceive: The first dealer was still whingeing about the perceived slight, seemingly understanding nothing of the dynamics of street trade.
- cause: I did, however, manage to cause slight ( mainly cosmetic ) damage to the switching mechanism at some point on Sunday.
Browse dictionary entries near slight
- ‹ sliding scale
- ‹ sliding
- ‹ slider
- ‹ slide valve
- ‹ slide trombone
- ‹ slide rule
- ‹ slide knot
- ‹ slide fastener
- ‹ slide
- ‹ slidden
- slight care ›
- slight negligence ›
- slighting ›
- slightly ›
- Sligo ›
- slily ›
- slim ›
- slime ›
- slimeball ›
- slimsy ›

