slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.
poor or inferior.
a slim chance; a slim excuse.
small or inconsiderable; meager; scanty.
a slim income.
sized for the thinner than average person.
to become slim.
Chiefly British. to try to become more slender, especially by dieting.
small in width relative to height or length
small in amount or quality
slim chances of success
to make or become slim, esp by diets and exercise
to reduce or decrease or cause to be reduced or decreased
See slender.
1650–60; < Dutch slim sly, (earlier) crooked (cognate with German schlimm bad, (earlier) crooked)
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Prospects of a ceasefire with Russia remain slim and Ukraine faces another harsh winter of war.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Volkswagen has tried to slim down as profits have dwindled, and struck a deal with unions in late 2024 to shed 35,000 jobs by 2030 at the company’s core operations in Germany.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Jeans remain the core of Levi’s business, and skinny, slim, bootcut and straight fits still make up the bulk of its bottoms segment.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
The chances of a life as complex and purposefully incongruent as Madonna’s fitting into one feature-length film — even two or three — are slim, and even that’s an understatement.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Velia held out her slim arm and I assessed the damage.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
The maker of Slim Jim and Healthy Choice has seen its shares slide by 26% over the past 12 months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Conagra is known for grocery-aisle staples like Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, and Marie Callender’s.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
Fatboy Slim will perform an exclusive DJ set at The Pipeline in Brighton, external, where the capacity is just 60 people; while grime legend D Double E plays a warehouse gig at Nottingham's Brickworks.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
There’s an old gambler’s aphorism beloved by wise souls from Amarillo Slim to Warren Buffett that warns: “If you look around the poker table and can’t identify the mark, it’s you.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
Next time down the guy Slim took me baseline again, but just as he was laying the rock up over the rim, Rondell came out of nowhere and swatted his shot out of bounds.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
SpaceX has developed a prototype handset-like device, slimmer than an iPhone, to reshape AI interaction, showing it to investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
While that’s a slimmer beat than the quarterly revenue result, keep in mind the company’s sales have averaged 5% above projections in the last 10 quarters, according to FactSet.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
The U.S. strategic crude stockpiles are dwindling at a record pace and are approaching their lowest in decades — but concerns about slimmer reserves may be overblown.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
But for “middle restaurants” — between fast-casual spots without extensive table service and high-level tasting menus — restaurateurs often make up for the slimmer margins with volume.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
If you look considerably slimmer, diary, it’s only because you have been my all-purpose supply book.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Keiko Fujimori won the June 7 presidential runoff by the slimmest of margins, outpolling leftist Roberto Sanchez by fewer than 50,000 votes out of the more than 18 million ballots cast, the final results showed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Overall, reports Roll Call, “in a Senate newly under Republican control and a House held by the slimmest of GOP majorities, lawmakers cast more votes last year than any other since the pandemic.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
With Sri Lanka chasing down the target with ease, the Australians are left clinging to only the slimmest mathematical hope and will watch nervously as Zimbabwe face Ireland on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
In 2024, Gray won his seat by 187 votes, the slimmest margin of any race in the country.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 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
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman cut deeper into the lead of reality television personality Spencer Pratt on Saturday, as his lead slimmed to just a single percentage point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
Pre-tax profit excluding one-off costs for the slimmed down business was £108m for the year to the end of August, WH Smith said.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2025
Rising labor costs had slimmed margins for many Amazon deliveries done by UPS.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
Hilton slimmed down its full-year outlook, too, lowering the upper end of its expected range for revenue per available room.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
She’d slimmed down and shot up and started worrying about clothes.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Nestlé is trying to end the slump by winning back market share and slimming down its sprawling business.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Brides aren’t the only ones slimming down before their big day, Ianieri-Salerno said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
As part of a vast slimming down of its business, which has included selling some medical practices, UnitedHealth also said it completed the sale of Optum UK for $400 million.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026
Surgical procedures and weight-loss drugs are growing in popularity, with some influencers detailing their own slimming journeys to both acclaim and criticism.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
The column of light in front of us is closing, slimming into a pinpoint.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
