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
Face It: Selfie Vocab
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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Workshop 2, Part 1
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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 Dodgers took advantage of the Giants’ sloppy infield play to load the bases for De Paula, who lined a two-run single into shallow center field.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
"A mesophotic coral ecosystem lives deeper than the usual shallow coral reefs, in zones where light is much more limited," explained Zinzindohoué.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
As the airplane began to sink, Tiffany, 68, and Boltz swam to shallow water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
The improvements will include a new boardwalk across muddy parts of the park, litter-picking and the creation of shallow wetland habitats.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
He closed his eye and, surrounded by the silence of Deadwood, let his undead lungs assume a shallow rhythm.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
That helps explain why a shallower Juan de Fuca slab beneath northern Oregon could increase peak ground shaking in populated areas.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
However, small growers often have shallower wells that are more vulnerable to going dry when water levels drop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
These strike-slip earthquakes can occur at shallower depths than subduction quakes, where one tectonic plate is forced below another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
The pace of construction on buildings with five or more units dropped roughly 42% in May from April, while single-family units decreased by a shallower 1.9%.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
The breathing began to slow down, grow shallower.
From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte
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
The yield curve continued to 'bear steepen' to show its shallowest inversion between two and 10-year yields in more than a year and actually in positive territory between two and 20 years.
From Reuters ● Oct. 19, 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 moon was hidden somewhere behind the blinding glare, and it felt like the city itself was collapsing, pressing in, taking only the shallowest of breaths in the squeeze of lost space.
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
We still enjoyed days at the beach, but that usually meant walking along the coast or paddling in the shallows.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
A few children splashed in the shallows as the surfers paddled out to sea, fighting the crashing waves.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
This is the kind of art that would find a suitable home in a crypto king’s Miami mansion, and whose pretense of depth can’t conceal its wallowing in the shallows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
They frequent the shallows surrounding Friday Harbor Labs, the UW research facility located on San Juan Island.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2025
Instantly the mother duck quacked her alarm and herded her babies into the shallows.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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
As morning approached, the water shallowed, showing that she was nearer than she had been when night closed in.
From The Three Admirals by J.R. Wells
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
His short-iron stats are trailing, but that's a result of how well he's shallowing the club into impact.
From Golf Digest ● May 29, 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
She could feel the dream shallowing, like a sleek ship beaching on a shoal.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
