paper-thin
[pey-per-thin]
- extremely thin: a paper-thin razor blade.
- inadequate or unconvincing; flimsy: a paper-thin excuse.
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Origin of paper-thin
First recorded in 1925–30
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
wispyslimflimsydelicatetranslucentpaper-thincardboarddisposablesheerslightattenuaterarefiedrefinedattenuatedinsubstantialpaperywafer-thindiaphanousfilmygossamerExamples from the Web for paper-thin
Contemporary Examples
For someone interested in upending how Americans perceive free speech, Rosenbaum presents a series of paper-thin arguments.
“Her support is broader than I would like, but it's paper-thin,” Shays says.
Shays’s Rebellion: The Last Yankee Republican Fights For His Political LifeJohn Avlon
August 13, 2012
The chest protector was paper-thin with the faded mark of “Spalding” in the top left hand corner.
The walls were paper-thin, and he could hear all comings-and-goings at his end of the flophouse.
Clegg won the leadership by a paper-thin majority in late 2007.
Historical Examples
There was no paper-thin covering on her chairs, bed, and dressing table.
The HarvesterGene Stratton Porter
But I was told that in this country somewhere are Giants with sweet, hard kernels which fill up their paper-thin shell fully.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-Fifth Annual MeetingNorthern Nut Growers Association
The bony part of the tooth, on the other hand, starts as a paper-thin sheet, but full sized.
Natural WondersEdwin Tenney Brewster
Meantime won't somebody give me another cup of coffee and about a dozen more rashers of that paper-thin bacon?
Camp VentureGeorge Cary Eggleston
The paper-thin walls permitted you to hear them living the most intimate details of their lives.
GigoloEdna Ferber