shallow
Americanadjective
-
of little depth; not deep.
shallow water.
-
lacking depth; superficial.
a mind that is not narrow but shallow.
-
taking in a relatively small amount of air in each inhalation.
shallow breathing.
-
Baseball. relatively close to home plate.
The shortstop caught the pop fly in shallow left field.
noun
adverb
verb (used with or without object)
-
shallows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shallowed,
past participle, past
-
shallowing
present participle
adjective
-
having little depth
-
lacking intellectual or mental depth or subtlety; superficial
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shallowsimple
-
shallowssimple
-
have shallowedperfect
-
has shallowedperfect
-
am shallowingprogressive
-
are shallowingprogressive
-
is shallowingprogressive
-
have been shallowingperfect progressive
-
has been shallowingperfect progressive
Past
-
shallowedsimple
-
had shallowedperfect
-
was shallowingprogressive
-
were shallowingprogressive
-
had been shallowingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing shallow
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The pulse is weak and the breathing shallow, but the Galaxy’s playoff hopes are still alive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
The marine biologist looked back to a 2004 incident in Massachusetts, when water jets were used to drive a great white shark away from a shallow pond.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Note the softly creased light lines and shallow drafts along the door panels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
Cool promptly in shallow containers, label and refrigerate.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
With that, the robot and the turtle parted ways and continued through that shallow sea in opposite directions.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
Meanwhile, the ground around its active Santiago crater and lava lake continued to sink, suggesting that a separate, shallower magma reservoir was behaving differently.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026
The shallower the earthquake, the more likely it is to have more severe effects on the surface.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Higher levels of CO2 can drive magma rapidly upward from deep underground, while water can become more important when magma spends more time at shallower depths.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
It’s creating shallower and more fragile relationships and communities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The others dug two shallower holes for their portions.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Currently, surveys are limited to very restricted spots, but with the help of these advanced underwater drones, scientists can extend their research from the shallowest regions to depths of 60 meters and beyond.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 15, 2024
Though residential investment, which includes homebuilding, likely contracted for the ninth straight quarter, the decline was probably the shallowest in 1-1/2 years.
From Reuters ● Jul. 27, 2023
This water sits in some of the state's shallowest and most remote aquifers, where it has accreted over thousands of years beneath chalk-white valleys.
From Salon ● May 7, 2023
It’s a shame that, despite a few charming moments that show some depth, the film only offers the shallowest of dips into the ocean that is modern queer culture.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2022
The shallowest waves lap against mere inches of shore.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
A span of international waters runs through the strait but perilous shallows mean the navigable channel is a winding route just 7 miles wide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
On Thursday, the beachside felt calm as a woman was leisurely paddle boarding in the shallows while children played on the beach.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
But now scientists on the first expedition beyond the islands' shallows have discovered an underwater mountain range, a massive "blue hole", coral reefs apparently untouched by climate change and never-before-seen sea creatures.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
They frequent the shallows surrounding Friday Harbor Labs, the UW research facility located on San Juan Island.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2025
While Fflewddur held the bridles with his uninjured hand, the companions waded into the shallows.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
Once again, the sea shallowed, and fish shimmied between crags, sea urchins perched on ridges and starfish danced on the side of the island.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 6, 2017
Instead of descending directly into the mantle, the subducting plate shallowed out and moved eastward beneath the continental plate affecting the overlying continent hundreds of miles east of the continental margin and building high mountains.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017
That shows I've shallowed the path of my driver from the top to impact.
From Golf Digest ● Aug. 7, 2016
“Be a good boy,” my mother said with a shallowed voice before closing the door behind her, leaving us alone.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2013
In the middle it suddenly shallowed, and my breast came against a mudshoal.
From Prester John by John Buchan
The researchers cite as one example the Bangkok basin in Thailand, where groundwater levels fell in the late-twentieth century before shallowing out in the early 21at Century.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2024
Instead, the fish have been forced to lay their eggs at the base of Shasta Lake in the shallowing Sacramento River.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2022
Other times, I get too steep with my swing. and I can't get the ball to do what I want, so I work on shallowing my angle of attack.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 19, 2019
But the shallowing seawater in the Baltic Sea is not the only thing worrying people in the area, says Knutsson.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2017
Trying to collect his wits and courage, Vetch spoke the Revelation-spell, watching between each slow-syllabled word for change or tremor of illusion in this strange drying and shallowing of the abyss of ocean.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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