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:
I felt a slight prickle at the nape of my neck, having lived my life in a manner that allowed ordering without performing a cost-benefit analysis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Official figures showed the economy expanded by 0.1% in the month, defying analysts' expectations of a slight contraction.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
But for thousands of years, all there was to show they had ever existed was a slight protuberance on the landscape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Two paintings by impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stolen from a museum in southern France and later discovered hidden behind a wall, have sustained slight damage, prosecutors said on Monday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
It was just a small wave, an eager nod, a slight scoot of his chair to make room for another—like he actually wanted me to take my bag and tray and cross the entire cafeteria.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
It isn’t clear how deeply the disagreements and slights might affect a relationship that has long been a cornerstone of U.S. security policy in the Middle East.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 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
Drake turns the frigid, isolated mansion rap that’s become his trademark toward relitigating the last half-decade of petty squabbles and minor slights.
From Salon ● May 21, 2026
To get even for all the names he was called and the slights he’d suffered.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson was cooler on the film, commenting A Real Pain "is slighter than expected and is thus easily overwhelmed by Culkin’s high shtick".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024
But once he started dominating, he kept dominating, putting up six double-doubles in seven playoff games, obliterating short-handed Memphis inside while steamrolling the Lakers’ slighter opponents on Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2023
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
Originally programmed in 1987 by George Lewis, the composer, performer and computer-music pioneer, Voyager’s discography is slighter than Mitchell’s, but likewise thrilling.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2022
Instead a slighter and far more welcome figure was chasing after me.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Mr. Weaver tends to make eye-catching statements without the slightest confirmation from primary sources.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
St. Clair simply calls him a “nuke,” one that might readily self-detonate at the slightest bruising of his self-image.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Succession actor Jeremy Strong plays Zuckerberg as a "full-on villain", according to a review in the Hollywood Reporter, "stoically arguing that even the slightest gesture of responsibility is anathema where money is concerned".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
"Even the slightest insights from an out-of-equilibrium physics model will guide us in the future."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
She nodded but didn’t look at me, and I could tell from the rigidity of the muscles beneath my hand that I hadn’t convinced her in the slightest.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
If questions about his presence on the team have left him feeling slighted, Freeman says he’s fueled more by the adversity he has faced than by his recent success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
He also shared times that fun moments have gone sour, such as feeling slighted by a friend who profited from selling him a boat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Leaving a group trip where someone feels financially slighted can lead to conflict when you get back home.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
But throughout he repeatedly returned to the justices in ways that made clear he felt personally slighted by the decision.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
Akin to this first trait is the second, an ever-present, poorly controlled rage—easily triggered by any feeling of being tricked, slighted, or labeled inferior by others.
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
Keller and Knight were rewarded with proximity to Storrie and the best punchlines, but neither Quinn nor Jack Hughes had to indicate in any way that they had joined America’s president in slighting them.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2026
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says LeBron James confronted him at Thursday’s Lakers game over slighting Bronny, with the NBA star ‘making sure I mind what I say about his son.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2025
That would be slighting those who came before him: Ozzie Newsome, Dave Casper and Keith Jackson in the day, and Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten and Rob Gronkowski in more recent years.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022
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
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