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shallow

[shal-oh]
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adjective, shal·low·er, shal·low·est.
  1. of little depth; not deep: shallow water.
  2. lacking depth; superficial: a mind that is not narrow but shallow.
  3. taking in a relatively small amount of air in each inhalation: shallow breathing.
  4. Baseball. relatively close to home plate: The shortstop caught the pop fly in shallow left field.
noun
  1. Usually shallows. (used with a singular or plural verb) a shallow part of a body of water; shoal.
adverb
  1. Baseball. at a shallow position: With the pitcher up, the outfielders played shallow.
verb (used with or without object)
  1. to make or become shallow.

Origin of shallow

1350–1400; Middle English schalowe (adj.); akin to Old English sceald shallow (see shoal1)
Related formsshal·low·ly, adverbshal·low·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for shallowness

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Their freshness soon withered, on account of the shallowness of the earth.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • All that I have seen of life only shows the shallowness of what is called the public service.

    A Day's Ride

    Charles James Lever

  • Shallowness has this advantage, that you can't be drowned there.'

  • And here the depth or shallowness of our theology will be sure to tell.

  • She felt a sort of bitter shame over her own shallowness of feeling.

    Robert Elsmere

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

British Dictionary definitions for shallowness

shallow

adjective
  1. having little depth
  2. lacking intellectual or mental depth or subtlety; superficial
noun
  1. (often plural) a shallow place in a body of water; shoal
verb
  1. to make or become shallow
Derived Formsshallowly, adverbshallowness, noun

Word Origin

C15: related to Old English sceald shallow; see shoal 1
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

Word Origin and History for shallowness

shallow

adj.

c.1400, schalowe "not deep," probably from or related to Old English sceald (see shoal (n.)). Of breathing, attested from 1875; of thought or feeling, "superficial," first recorded 1580s. The noun, usually shallows, is first recorded 1570s, from the adjective.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper