slant
Americanverb (used without object)
-
slants,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slanted,
past participle, past
-
slanting
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
slants,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slanted,
past participle, past
-
slanting
present participle
-
to cause to slope.
-
to distort (information) by rendering it unfaithfully or incompletely, especially in order to reflect a particular viewpoint.
He slanted the news story to discredit the Administration.
-
to write, edit, or publish for the interest or amusement of a specific group of readers.
a story slanted toward young adults.
noun
-
slants
plural
-
slanting or oblique direction; slope.
the slant of a roof.
- Synonyms:
- pitch, inclination, incline, obliqueness, obliquity
-
a slanting line, surface, etc.
-
a mental leaning, bias, or distortion.
His mind shows a curious slant.
-
viewpoint; opinion; attitude.
Let him give you his slant.
-
Informal. a glance or look.
-
Also called angle. Journalism. the particular mood or vein in which something is written, edited, or published.
His column always has a humorous slant.
-
Football.
-
an offensive play in which the ball-carrier runs toward the line of scrimmage at an angle.
-
Also called slant-in. a pass pattern in which a receiver cuts diagonally across the middle of the field.
-
-
Also called slant-eye. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person from East Asia, especially a Chinese or Japanese person.
adjective
verb
-
to incline or be inclined at an oblique or sloping angle
-
(tr) to write or present (news, etc) with a bias
-
(of a person's opinions) to be biased
noun
-
an inclined or oblique line or direction; slope
-
a way of looking at something
-
a bias or opinion, as in an article
-
a less technical name for solidus
-
sloping
adjective
Sensitive Note
See slant-eyed.
Usage
What does slant mean? To slant is to slope or lean away from a specific line. To slant is also to cause to slope, as in If you slant your house’s roof, rain and snow will slide off. A slant is a line or plane that is not horizontally or vertically straight. Often it is on a diagonal as with /. Figuratively, to slant is to have or be biased, as in My mother was always slanted toward my father’s opinion. To slant is also to distort information to reflect a specific viewpoint and misstate facts. It is often used in reference to journalism, which is expected to be unbiased and objective. Slanted media, for example, would back a particular political movement by covering its victories and downplaying its failures. To slant can also be used to mean to write, edit or publish something for a specific audience. This may be seen as a positive or negative, depending on how something is slanted and the purpose of the material. For example, to slant a news story to young readers would be to simplify the story without distorting it so younger readers could understand it. To slant a novel to a specific audience is to write it to their interests. However, to slant a news story with the intent to distort information would be considered a negative. Example: Cape Cod houses are known for their slanted roofs and shingle siding.
Synonym Usage
See slope.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
slantsimple
-
slantssimple
-
have slantedperfect
-
has slantedperfect
-
am slantingprogressive
-
are slantingprogressive
-
is slantingprogressive
-
have been slantingperfect progressive
-
has been slantingperfect progressive
Past
-
slantedsimple
-
had slantedperfect
-
was slantingprogressive
-
were slantingprogressive
-
had been slantingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slant
First recorded in 1485–95; aphetic variant of aslant
Explanation
To slant is to tilt or slope sharply to one side. Many streets in San Francisco are so steep that they slant dramatically upward. You can slant the brim of your hat down to keep the sun out of your eyes, and the sun itself can slant at a lower angle (or slant), forcing you to put on your dark sunglasses. There's also the slant that means "show bias," the way a newspaper reporter does when she slants a story in favor of one political party over another. Slant was originally slenten, "slip sideways," from a Germanic root.
Vocabulary lists containing slant
Nothing But the Truth
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
myPerspectives 10.3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"What Is News?" and "How to Detect Bias in the News"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Dixon-Wyatt dusted his defender off the line to catch a red-zone slant for a score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
More notable than the volume of Friday’s expiration is the heavy slant toward puts.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026
The play, a lethal slant that the Crimson Tide called “Shortie,” had once enabled Jones to become the most devastating wideout in the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
That is just solid legal analysis that really should not have a partisan or ideological slant.
From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2026
His eyes are so dark they look black, and they slant a little at the edges.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Giraldo had lived with two dogs and two cats in a building that now slants dangerously to one side.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Johnny and his sidekick, Ed McMahon, gave adults a relaxing reprieve from the stresses of everyday living by offering light humor without any negative slants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
PragerU also has materials that avoid partisan slants, including videos explaining the Electoral College and the offices of the president and vice president.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 7, 2023
Armstrong’s handwriting, he noted, slants upward on every page.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
It might be an appetite for other streets, other slants of light.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
My brother was filming, and he does a good job, but his apartment in New York was really slanted and there’s lots of dogs running around.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The cute cottage features a slanted roof, bathroom, outdoor shower, and enough space for two beds.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
That slanted coverage, the unflattering image, is attached to my name.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
The protected vistas have forced modern developers to shave the tops off skyscrapers or adopt slanted silhouettes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
She sat down on one of the low wooden chairs that slanted so that she had to recline in them in order to rest her back.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Soldiers cordoned off the area before using dynamite to blast the first ruined building apart -- a 12-story residential tower that had partially collapsed and was slanting toward the street.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
The slanting sides of the work appear as a yawing, rusted ship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
As summer progresses, the dangling seed heads fade to a warm straw and are beautiful when backlit in the slanting light of autumn.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 7, 2023
D’Angelo Russell lost the ball and the Golden State Warriors were off to the races, Stephen Curry slanting a pass ahead to a wide-open Andrew Wiggins.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2023
I climbed the stairs slowly, the third one creaking, the fifth one slanting downward.
From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson
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.
