shallow

American  

[shal-oh] / ˈʃæl oʊ /

adjective

shallower, shallowest

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.

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noun

1. (used with a singular or plural verb) Usually shallows. 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.

shallow British  

/ ˈʃæləʊ /

adjective

1. having little depth

2. lacking intellectual or mental depth or subtlety; superficial

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noun

1. (often plural) a shallow place in a body of water; shoal

verb

1. to make or become shallow

Other Word Forms

• shallowly adverb
• shallowness noun

Etymology

Origin of shallow

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English schalowe (adjective); akin to Old English sceald “shallow” ( see shoal ¹)

Explanation

The adjective shallow can describe things that aren't very deep, like a shallow puddle, or people who don't have much emotional or intellectual depth, like shallow people who judge others on their looks and how much money they have. Shallow likely comes from the Old English word sceald, which means "shoal," the water near a shoreline. So, shallow describes something that is close to the surface — like the shallow roots of a newly-planted tree or a person whose interest in someone or something isn't very deep. For instance, a shallow person might go to the opening of a new art exhibition not so much to see the artworks as meet the wealthy people on the museum's board of trustees.

Example Sentences

The fossils formed when the animals' remains settled at the bottom of shallow lakes.

From Science Daily • Apr. 21, 2026

With their shallow root systems, addled by disease, the trees wouldn’t put up much resistance.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

“A determined adversary,” said David Brewster, who researches Indo-Pacific maritime security at Australian National University, “can still cut the cable relatively easily in shallow waters.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Any pullbacks in energy stocks have been shallow and short-lived, technical analysis shows, reinforcing the underlying demand and keeping the sector as a clear market leader.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

They’re all taller than I am, so sometimes they picked a place right between the shallow end and the deep end, where they could stand and I couldn’t.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related Words

• empty
• foolish
• frothy
• hollow
• trivial