slender

American  

[slen-der] / ˈslɛn dər /

adjective

slenderer, slenderest

1. having a circumference that is small in proportion to the height or length.

   a slender post.

2. thin or slight; light and graceful.

   slender youths.

   Antonyms:

   stocky, fat

3. small in size, amount, extent, etc.; meager.

   a slender income.

4. having little value, force, or justification.

   slender prospects.

   Synonyms:

   trifling, trivial

5. thin or weak, as sound.

   Synonyms:

   flimsy, delicate, fine, feeble, fragile

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slender British  

/ ˈslɛndə /

adjective

1. of small width relative to length or height

2. (esp of a person's figure) slim and well-formed

3. small or inadequate in amount, size, etc

   slender resources

4. (of hopes, etc) having little foundation; feeble

5. very small

   a slender margin

6. (of a sound) lacking volume

7. phonetics (now only in Irish phonology) relating to or denoting a close front vowel, such as i or e

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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

• slenderness
  noun
• unslender
  adjective
• slenderly
  adverb

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.

Example Sentences

Will the slender winning margin come back to bite when goal difference could be the key to reaching the knockout stages?

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2026

A sleek modernist home with a single white director’s chair sits in the background with two slender palm trees rising into the light blue sky behind.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026

The following year, Britain and the U.S. agreed to build a military base on Diego Garcia, a slender, open-jawed island, and the two governments began plotting the expulsion of the Chagossians from the entire archipelago.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

First, their majorities in the House and Senate are perilously slender.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

Her fingers, fair and slender, were laden with jewelled rings, any one of which would have fed us for a year.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Related Words

• delicate
• fragile
• frail
• lanky
• lithe
• meager
• narrow
• skinny
• slight
• slim
• svelte
• wiry
• wispy