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• slim
  slim

  adjective

  slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.
• Slim
  Slim

  noun

  the E African name for AIDS

slim

American  

[slim] / slɪm /

adjective

• slimmer,
  comparative
• slimmest
  superlative

1. slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.

   Synonyms:

   thin

   Antonyms:

   fat

2. poor or inferior.

   a slim chance; a slim excuse.

3. small or inconsiderable; meager; scanty.

   a slim income.

   Synonyms:

   paltry, trivial, trifling, insignificant

   Antonyms:

   abundant, considerable

4. sized for the thinner than average person.

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verb (used with object)

slimmed, slimming

1. to make slim.

verb (used without object)

slimmed, slimming

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 phrase

1. slim down

   1. to lose weight, especially intentionally.

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

slim ¹ British  

/ slɪm /

adjective

1. small in width relative to height or length

2. small in amount or quality

   slim chances of success

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verb

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

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

Slim ² British  

/ slɪm /

noun

1. the E African name for AIDS

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Slim ³ British  

/ 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)

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Synonym Usage

See slender.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• slimmer
  noun
• slimness
  noun
• unslimness
  noun
• unslim
  adjective
• unslimmed
  adjective
• slimly
  adverb
• unslimly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• slimmer
  comparative
• slimmest
  superlative

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Etymology

Origin of slim

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

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Explanation

Anything slim is thin or narrow. So, your sister may be considered slim, and you could also have "a slim chance" of winning the lottery. Slim people are slender, and slim things are usually delicate, like a slim watch band. You can also use slim to describe a margin or a chance: "There was only a slim likelihood that the home team would win this game." Back in the early 1800s, to slim meant "to do one's work carelessly," and in the seventeenth century, the adjective was also used to mean "sly or crafty."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slim Slim slimmer slimmest slimmed slimming

At 40-3, they still had slim hopes but Green ran out Inglis and then Carey played his silly reverse off Harmer.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

His chances of winning the vote looked slim even before the train crash.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

At 2-5, their chances for a turnaround are slim with quarterback Jalen Hurts likely out for the season.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Despite a request from litigants to overturn prior rulings in Kisor, a slim majority of the court ruled that judges were still required to defer to an agency’s interpretations of its regulations.

From Slate ● Oct. 18, 2026

He equipped himself with a dagger, sword, and spear; in addition to the blade she had taken from the barrow, Eilonwy carried a slim dagger at her waist.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

Instead, he let Slim Shady learn a hard lesson that true southerners know: You lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026

Slim Pickens yee-hawed riding “Dr. Strangelove’s” atomic bomb to oblivion; Cruise brandishes his grandpappy’s original shovel that struck crude in 1917 and whoops, “Oil is the mother’s milk of Earth!”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

Hermès now sells some very high-end mechanical watches, such as a men’s Slim d’Hermès Quantieme Perpetual that costs more than $50,000.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

The home of a Brighton music venue is to become community owned as part of a £7m initiative backed by DJ Fatboy Slim and Andy Burnham dubbed the "National Trust of music venues".

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

“She slang her pups last night,” said Slim.

From "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

Just inside the door, there was a flimsy mannequin with the face of a much younger, slimmer Trump, wearing a red “Trump 2028” hat, a dark suit, and a signature red tie.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Soon, the fun fan shot was replaced by one of those grim before-and-after shots: An obese Goodman in his 30s and the slimmer Goodman in his 70s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Responding to the watchdog, Jaded London argued it was "not clear" the model was holding a cigarette because it was slimmer than normal and "did not appear to be lit".

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

We have to demonstrate the performance of this much longer, much slimmer wing in terms of reduced fuel consumption.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair, and they were taller and slimmer than the others; they were lovers of trees and of woodlands.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

To evoke the fractured psyche of the characters, Morrison’s narratives are highly disjointed, switching among different points of view and time periods with only the slimmest semantic clues offered for orientation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

Playing in the Open Division requires extreme focus on taking it one game at a time and never looking ahead because every game can be won or lost by the slimmest of margins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026

In a semi-final dominated by the return, Gauff edged Paolini by the slimmest of margins.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025

Two dozen parents who sent their daughters to summer camp are grieving, while others are waiting in anguish with the slimmest of hopes because their loved ones have yet to be found.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2025

I can see orchards in the distance, and I wonder if that’s where Rue would have worked, collecting the fruit from the slimmest branches at the tops of the trees.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Since setting out a new strategy in 2024, Simoes has slimmed the company to three core divisions from four businesses previously, and has sold off non-strategic businesses such as Cala Homes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Rent eats up more than half of Imeh’s take-home pay, which was slimmed after a credit-card company started garnishing part of her wages to pay off her card debts, she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026

Though the fest itself has been cut down from 11 days to six, the amount of talent jammed into that week doesn’t appear to have slimmed down much at all.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2026

England have slimmed down their backroom staff since McCullum took charge.

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026

She’d slimmed down and shot up and started worrying about clothes.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Traditionally, he says, men "almost need a bit of a scare" to start trying to shed the pounds, seeing it as something private and shunning the more social approach some women prefer, like slimming clubs.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Nestlé is trying to end the slump by winning back market share and slimming down its sprawling business.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

It is thought to be the result of rapid slimming, rather than the medication itself.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

Brides aren’t the only ones slimming down before their big day, Ianieri-Salerno said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026

The column of light in front of us is closing, slimming into a pinpoint.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

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