slender
[slen-der]
- having a circumference that is small in proportion to the height or length: a slender post.
- thin or slight; light and graceful: slender youths.
- small in size, amount, extent, etc.; meager: a slender income.
- having little value, force, or justification: slender prospects.
- thin or weak, as sound.
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Origin of slender
1300–50; Middle English slendre, sclendre < ?
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com2. 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. 4. trivial, trifling. 5. fragile, feeble, fine, delicate, flimsy.
Antonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
smallnessinsufficiencydearthtendernesssubtletylightnesselegancefragilitypaltrinessscantinessrarityfaminedeficiencyabsenceshortagemeagernesspovertyfewnesssparsenessslendernessExamples from the Web for slenderness
Contemporary Examples
At least in theory Kagan could compensate somewhat for the slenderness of her academic resume through the quality of her work.
Historical Examples
Since then his slenderness has developed into plumpness and his hope into certitude.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
But, as I had anticipated, our security lay in our slenderness.
The Frozen PirateW. Clark Russell
But the grey in this case was not so pure, nor were the straightness and the slenderness so maidenly.
The Tragic MuseHenry James
He is dark and massive—a splendid foil for his wife's slenderness and fairness.
Mistress AnneTemple Bailey
Yet it carried itself with an effect of tallness and slenderness and grace.
The Combined MazeMay Sinclair
slender
- of small width relative to length or height
- (esp of a person's figure) slim and well-formed
- small or inadequate in amount, size, etcslender resources
- (of hopes, etc) having little foundation; feeble
- very smalla slender margin
- (of a sound) lacking volume
- phonetics (now only in Irish phonology) relating to or denoting a close front vowel, such as i or e
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Word Origin
C14 slendre, of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for slenderness
slender
adj.
c.1400, earlier sclendre (late 14c.), probably from a French source, often said to be from Old French esclendre "thin, slender," which could be from Old Dutch slinder, but the connections, and even the existence of these words, is doubtful. Related: Slenderly; slenderness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper