slender
Americanadjective
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having a circumference that is small in proportion to the height or length.
a slender post.
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thin or slight; light and graceful.
slender youths.
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small in size, amount, extent, etc.; meager.
a slender income.
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having little value, force, or justification.
slender prospects.
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thin or weak, as sound.
adjective
-
of small width relative to length or height
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(esp of a person's figure) slim and well-formed
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small or inadequate in amount, size, etc
slender resources
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(of hopes, etc) having little foundation; feeble
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very small
a slender margin
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(of a sound) lacking volume
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phonetics (now only in Irish phonology) relating to or denoting a close front vowel, such as i or e
Synonym Usage
Slender, slight, slim imply a tendency toward thinness. As applied to the human body, slender implies a generally attractive and pleasing thinness: slender hands. Slight often adds the idea of frailness to that of thinness: a slight, almost fragile, figure. Slim implies a lithe or delicate thinness: a slim and athletic figure.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of slender
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English slendre, sclendre; origin unknown
Explanation
Something slender is slight, or skinny. A young colt is slender compared to the full grown horse it will grow into. Slender can be used in both positive and negative ways. If someone tells you you have a slender figure, you'll probably be happy, unless you're going for muscle-mass. A slender portion of potatoes will not cheer a hungry growing boy. If you don't know much about something, you can say your knowledge of it is slender. And if you become an artist, get used to living on a slender budget. Now that's a nice way to put it.
Vocabulary lists containing slender
15 Synonyms for "Thin": An Eileen Ford (1922-2014) Tribute List
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The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
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Prince Caspian
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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 slender and rangy left-hander Kemp, almost Ben Stokes-like with a flowing bat swing, hits cleanly straight or, as shown with her two sixes against Scotland, over mid-wicket.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
But when Ser Duncan the Tall crosses paths with a slender, small boy calling himself Egg, so begins a friendship that will one day change the Seven Kingdoms.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
The horses are characterised by their "large size, long legs, well-developed musculature, slender and elegant head -- set on a long, straight neck -- expressive eyes, high withers and sturdy hooves," he added.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Such signs are now a fixture in Coronado, an upscale resort city on a slender peninsula in San Diego Bay, known for some of America’s best beaches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
Asase turns to the other figure—a tall, slender individual with skin so dark and rich that it looks like polished onyx.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
"It is more likely than not that megalodon must have had a much slenderer body than the modern great white shark."
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2025
And it consisted of a series of stacked volumes that grew slenderer and more circular as the tower rose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2020
“In the Realm of Perfection” is slenderer, knottier, more self-consciously besotted than that.
From New York Times ● Aug. 21, 2018
Its signs also use a sans-serif font, although one that's slenderer and more delicate than Helvetica.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2017
In the midst of them, thin-stalked, a taller, slenderer fungus, the Charing-T Tower lifted towards the sky a disk of shining concrete.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
In her review of the 1978 production, Times theater critic Sylvie Drake identifies “Fam and Yam” as the weak link in “Albee Directs Albee,” calling the playlet “the slenderest of self-jibes” and a “threadbare spoof.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
But what “Sollers Point” accomplishes is a singular balancing act, compensating for the mood of heavy discouragement with only the slenderest thread of hope.
From Washington Post ● May 21, 2018
She won her Broxstowe seat last time round by the slenderest of margins.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2014
“Red Knot,” the feature debut of Scott Cohen, a New York artist, takes an imposing backdrop and adds the slenderest of stories.
From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2014
There is always the slenderest remorse after any fanfare.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
