slight
Americanadjective
-
slighter,
comparative
-
slightest
superlative
-
small in amount, degree, etc..
a slight increase;
a slight odor.
- Antonyms:
- considerable
-
of little importance, influence, etc.; trivial.
a slight cut.
- Synonyms:
- paltry, trifling, insignificant
-
slender or slim; not heavily built.
-
frail; flimsy; delicate.
a slight fabric.
-
of little substance or strength.
- Synonyms:
- inconsiderable, unsubstantial
verb (used with object)
-
slights,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slighted,
past participle, past
-
slighting
present participle
noun
-
slights
plural
-
an act or instance of slighting or being slighted.
The critics’ slights led her to change direction in her work.
- Synonyms:
- inattention, disregard, neglect
-
a pointed and contemptuous discourtesy; affront.
She considered not being invited an unforgivable slight.
adjective
-
small in quantity or extent
-
of small importance; trifling
-
slim and delicate
-
lacking in strength or substance
-
dialect ill
verb
-
to show indifference or disregard for (someone); snub
-
to treat as unimportant or trifling
-
to devote inadequate attention to (work, duties, etc)
noun
Synonym Usage
See slender. Slight, disregard, neglect, overlook mean to pay no attention or too little attention to someone or something. To slight is to give only superficial attention to something important: to slight one's work. To disregard is to pay no attention to a person or thing: to disregard the rules; in some circumstances, to disregard may be admirable: to disregard a handicap. To neglect is to shirk paying sufficient attention to a person or thing: to neglect one's correspondence. To overlook is to fail to see someone or something (possibly because of carelessness): to overlook a bill that is due. See insult.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
slightsimple
-
slightssimple
-
have slightedperfect
-
has slightedperfect
-
am slightingprogressive
-
are slightingprogressive
-
is slightingprogressive
-
have been slightingperfect progressive
-
has been slightingperfect progressive
Past
-
slightedsimple
-
had slightedperfect
-
was slightingprogressive
-
were slightingprogressive
-
had been slightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slight
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (adjective) “smooth, sleek, slender”; compare Old English -sliht- in eorth-slihtes “even with ground”; cognate with German schlicht, Old Norse slēttr, Gothic slaihts “smooth”
Explanation
Anything slight is very small. There's a slight chance you'll run into a celebrity in New York City — in other words, don't count on it. A slight is also an insult, like giving someone the cold shoulder. Burr. Every meaning of slight stems from the Old Norse for "small or flimsy." If you have a slight build, you're slim with small bones. A slight deviation from your plan is a tiny adjustment. As a verb, to slight means to ignore or be indifferent toward someone; it's also the noun for the act of ignoring. If you direct a movie and the star doesn't thank you in her award acceptance speech, you'll be offended at the slight.
Vocabulary lists containing slight
Some Tricky Homonyms
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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15 Synonyms for "Thin": An Eileen Ford (1922-2014) Tribute List
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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:
“And there’s just slight degradation as that’s happening that compounds over time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Businesses also reported a slight increase in payrolls for the second straight month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
College grad and barista Brooks Langford said it’s typical for user-generated promotional posts to skip disclosures, admitting “easy cash outweighs the slight dishonesty” he feels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Her protagonist - who is 50 - has a slight obsession with sagging skin, which will no doubt strike a chord with many.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
As he spoke, he made a slight, unconscious movement of his head, an almost imperceptible nod, as if pushing the unseen pawn forward.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
But Diarra’s tendency to fixate on small details and slights eventually cracked the case.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
This helps explain why he can’t disregard her criticism the way any normal person might shrug off slights from someone they don’t respect.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
"An overwhelming picture has emerged of your rage, anger, and volatility", said the judge, adding that George had a "pronounced temper" which could be sparked by trivial matters and "perceived slights".
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Manilow, who entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002, insists the slights don’t bother him.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Big Bill, whom the Defender called “the spectacular, nervy Mayor of Chicago,” publicly spoke out against the slights that blacks found so demeaning, and made a great show of celebrating their successes.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Whoever was appointed into such a high profile post would have faced scrutiny and Jason Arday had a slighter research track record than some others in the field.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
We’re left with a nightmare of identity that feels slighter than it should, unsure of where to point its knife.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
His most dramatic liberties were reined in; tempo fluctuations became slighter.
From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2022
Wu showcases a knack for mining meaning out of the slighter essays, about her teenage job at a quaint bakery, for example, or her idiosyncratic affection for bunnies.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2022
They are both medium height—around five feet seven—but Vincent is broader, bigger; Theo slighter, thinner.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
"Even the slightest insights from an out-of-equilibrium physics model will guide us in the future."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
And yet the movie’s central storyline hints at writer-director Bassam Tariq’s inclination to subvert his own brooding-antihero saga, allowing room for unpredictability and the slightest whiff of impish irreverence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Overflow crowds standing on Broadway to scream at the slightest glimpse of a chart-topper in the second-story window of New York City’s One Astor Place.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
As a result, fallow fields are in a "deplorable state, and at the slightest spark, the blaze spreads like wildfire" due to vegetation dried out by the heat.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Henry, without the slightest pause, had gone down the list and circled all fives.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Leaving a group trip where someone feels financially slighted can lead to conflict when you get back home.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
In his Thursday testimony, Musk—unprompted by attorneys—began ranking the leading AI companies and slighted OpenAI along the way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
“That was a father. I can’t sit here and be angry or feel slighted by LeBron James in any way in that regard.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2025
Both unions rushed to smooth the waters after the column appeared, but the feeling of being slighted remains.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2025
But the public was not much aware of either Wilson or Spencer; compared to Smith and Hickock, or the fifth man on the Row, Lowell Lee Andrews, the press had rather slighted them.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
While having a drink in a bar shortly after arriving in Venezuela, he carelessly made a slighting comment about Simón Bolívar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Black vultures have a massive 5 foot wing span, slighting smaller than the turkey vulture.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2022
I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourselves by not giving any further detail and be watching here for a remedy of this painful slighting.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2021
In New Jersey, Lieberman said, that misery only intensified the usual, everyday slighting from New Yorkers, Philadelphians and others — what Lieberman pinpoints as New Jersey’s constant state of embattlement.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2020
I quit selecting certain of my New York brothers and giving them money to go and lay groundwork for new mosques in other cities—because slighting remarks were being made about “Malcolm’s ministers.”
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
