shallow

[shal-oh]

See more synonyms for shallow on Thesaurus.com

adjective, shal·low·er, shal·low·est.

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

Usually shallows. (used with a singular or plural verb) a shallow part of a body of water; shoal.

adverb

Baseball. at a shallow position: With the pitcher up, the outfielders played shallow.

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become shallow.

Origin of shallow

1350–1400; Middle English schalowe (adj.); akin to Old English sceald shallow (see shoal¹)

Related formsshal·low·ly, adverbshal·low·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for shallowness

silliness, lunacy, apathy, ignorance, nonsense, idiocy, absurdity, blindness, oblivion, levity, disregard, illiteracy, bewilderment, insensitivity, simplicity, stupor, stolidity, fatuity, weakness, ineptitude

Examples from the Web for shallowness

Contemporary Examples of shallowness

The shallowness of the Obama white paper, issued last June, is now only too obvious.
The Looming Banking Battle
Jeff Madrick
November 12, 2009

Historical Examples of shallowness

Their freshness soon withered, on account of the shallowness of the earth.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
All that I have seen of life only shows the shallowness of what is called the public service.
A Day's Ride
Charles James Lever
Shallowness has this advantage, that you can't be drowned there.'
A Pair of Blue Eyes
Thomas Hardy
And here the depth or shallowness of our theology will be sure to tell.
The Preacher and His Models
James Stalker
She felt a sort of bitter shame over her own shallowness of feeling.
Robert Elsmere
Mrs. Humphry Ward

British Dictionary definitions for shallowness

shallow

adjective

having little depth
lacking intellectual or mental depth or subtlety; superficial

noun

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

verb

to make or become shallow

Derived Formsshallowly, adverbshallowness, noun

Word Origin for shallow

C15: related to Old English sceald shallow; see shoal 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for shallowness

shallow

adj.

c.1400, schalowe "not deep," probably from or related to Old English sceald (see shoal (n.)). Of breathing, attested from 1875; of thought or feeling, "superficial," first recorded 1580s. The noun, usually shallows, is first recorded 1570s, from the adjective.