slight
- small in amount, degree, etc.: a slight increase; a slight odor.
- of little importance, influence, etc.; trivial: a slight cut.
- slender or slim; not heavily built.
- frail; flimsy; delicate: a slight fabric.
- of little substance or strength.
- to treat as of little importance.
- to treat (someone) with indifference; ignore, especially pointedly or contemptuously; snub: to be slighted by society.
- to do negligently; scamp: to slight one's studies.
- an act or instance of slighting or being slighted: The critics’ slights led her to change direction in her work.
- a pointed and contemptuous discourtesy; affront: She considered not being invited an unforgivable slight.
Origin of slight
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for slightest
Contemporary Examples
Giving in, even the slightest amount to international gangsters, will only invite higher prices and worse consequences.
At any moment, the slightest loss in concentration could see a disastrous tumble.
Save for Warburton himself, not one of them ever offered us the slightest assistance, or, indeed, even spoke to us.
Over the next seven long minutes, the woman made not the slightest effort to assist him.
Celebrities are people who have the power to win people's attention even for the slightest moment.
Historical Examples
She must never be worried with the slightest inkling of what has happened.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton CampusJessie Graham Flower
"I've not the slightest doubt of that," returned the old lady with asperity.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
He was right about one thing: Gracie Dennis had not the slightest idea of dying.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
You will remember that she had not the slightest faith in Dirk.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
He had not the slightest idea where he was, nor of what he ought to do next.
Rico and WiseliJohanna Spyri
slight
- small in quantity or extent
- of small importance; trifling
- slim and delicate
- lacking in strength or substance
- Southwest English dialect ill
- to show indifference or disregard for (someone); snub
- to treat as unimportant or trifling
- US to devote inadequate attention to (work, duties, etc)
- an act or omission indicating supercilious neglect or indifference
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for slightest
slight
adj.
early 14c., "flat, smooth; hairless," probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse slettr "smooth, sleek," from Proto-Germanic *slikhtaz (cf. Old Saxon slicht; Low German slicht "smooth, plain common;" Old English -sliht "level," attested in eorðslihtes "level with the ground;" Old Frisian sliucht "smooth, slight," Middle Dutch sleht "even, plain," Old High German sleht, Gothic slaihts "smooth"), probably from a collateral form of PIE *sleig- "to smooth, glide, be muddy," from root *(s)lei- "slimy" (see slime (n.)).
Sense evolution probably is from "smooth" (c.1300), to "slim, slender; of light texture," hence "not good or strong; insubstantial, trifling, inferior, insignificant" (early 14c.). Meaning "small in amount" is from 1520s. Sense of German cognate schlecht developed from "smooth, plain, simple" to "bad, mean, base," and as it did it was replaced in the original senses by schlicht, a back-formation from schlichten "to smooth, to plane," a derivative of schlecht in the old sense [Klein].
slight
v.
c.1300, "make plain or smooth," from slight (adj.) Meaning "treat with indifference" (1590s) is from the adjective in sense of "having little worth." Related: Slighted; slighting.
slight
n.
1550s, "small amount or weight," from slight (v.). Meaning "act of intentional neglect or ignoring out of displeasure or contempt" is from 1701, probably via 17c. phrase make a slight of (1610s).