slight

[slahyt]

adjective, slight·er, slight·est.

small in amount, degree, etc.: a slight increase; a slight odor.
of little importance, influence, etc.; trivial: a slight cut.
slender or slim; not heavily built.

frail; flimsy; delicate: a slight fabric.
of little substance or strength.

verb (used with object)

to treat as of little importance.
to treat (someone) with indifference; ignore, especially pointedly or contemptuously; snub: to be slighted by society.
to do negligently; scamp: to slight one's studies.

noun

an act or instance of slighting or being slighted: The critics’ slights led her to change direction in her work.
a pointed and contemptuous discourtesy; affront: She considered not being invited an unforgivable slight.

Origin of slight

1250–1300; Middle English (adj.) smooth, sleek, slender; compare Old English -sliht- in eorth-slihtes even with ground; cognate with German schlicht, Old Norse slēttr, Gothic slaihts smooth

Related formsslight·er, nounslight·ly, adverbslight·ness, nouno·ver·slight, adjectiveun·slight·ed, adjective

Synonyms for slight

2. insignificant, trifling, paltry. 3. See slender. 4. weak, feeble, fragile. 5. unsubstantial, inconsiderable. 6. disdain, scorn. 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. 9. neglect, disregard, inattention. 10. See insult.

Antonyms for slight

1. considerable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for slights

superficial, slim, meager, slender, modest, negligible, trivial, minor, rejection, affront, snub, scorn, disparage, petty, off, scanty, fat, piddling, outside, remote

Examples from the Web for slights

Contemporary Examples of slights

In any case, Pakistan as a nation has been unforgiving of any slights against Islam.
Disco Mullah Blasphemy Row Highlights Pakistan’s Hypocrisy
Shaheen Pasha
December 21, 2014
The discrimination and slights Abe experiences are “part and parcel of what we are experiencing in the world,” says Akhtar.
Religion, Race, and a Broadway Hit: The Making of ‘Disgraced’
Tim Teeman
November 10, 2014
The most important thing, he and these experts agreed, was finding an environment where slights never escalate to violence.
Obama’s $120 Million School Safety Plan
Elizabeth Lopatto
June 16, 2014
The tiniest of slights from any vaguely left-of-center source is converted into fuel for the rage machine.
Twitchy! Michelle Malkin's Phony War
Tom Doran
April 10, 2013
“It inflates the ego,” which in turn opens up endless opportunity for slights both real and perceived.
John Boehner’s Holiday Party Snub
Michelle Cottle
December 5, 2012

Historical Examples of slights

Passive, patient, long-suffering she had been the while the mortifications and slights were for herself.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
For the eye is fastened on the life, and slights the circumstance.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
She was too sensitive to slights to risk the repulses he says she accepted.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Elizabeth Robins Pennell
Did she not bear all the slights put upon her by those who are not half as good as she?
Fairy Fingers
Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie
You never find he slights his work when your back is turned?
Black Beauty
Anna Sewell

British Dictionary definitions for slights

slight

adjective

small in quantity or extent
of small importance; trifling
slim and delicate
lacking in strength or substance
Southwest English dialect ill

verb (tr)

to show indifference or disregard for (someone); snub
to treat as unimportant or trifling
US to devote inadequate attention to (work, duties, etc)

noun

an act or omission indicating supercilious neglect or indifference

Derived Formsslightness, noun

Word Origin for slight

C13: from Old Norse slēttr smooth; related to Old High German slehtr, Gothic slaihts, Middle Dutch slecht simple

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for slights

slight

adj.

early 14c., "flat, smooth; hairless," probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse slettr "smooth, sleek," from Proto-Germanic *slikhtaz (cf. Old Saxon slicht; Low German slicht "smooth, plain common;" Old English -sliht "level," attested in eorðslihtes "level with the ground;" Old Frisian sliucht "smooth, slight," Middle Dutch sleht "even, plain," Old High German sleht, Gothic slaihts "smooth"), probably from a collateral form of PIE *sleig- "to smooth, glide, be muddy," from root *(s)lei- "slimy" (see slime (n.)).

Sense evolution probably is from "smooth" (c.1300), to "slim, slender; of light texture," hence "not good or strong; insubstantial, trifling, inferior, insignificant" (early 14c.). Meaning "small in amount" is from 1520s. Sense of German cognate schlecht developed from "smooth, plain, simple" to "bad, mean, base," and as it did it was replaced in the original senses by schlicht, a back-formation from schlichten "to smooth, to plane," a derivative of schlecht in the old sense [Klein].

slight

c.1300, "make plain or smooth," from slight (adj.) Meaning "treat with indifference" (1590s) is from the adjective in sense of "having little worth." Related: Slighted; slighting.

slight

1550s, "small amount or weight," from slight (v.). Meaning "act of intentional neglect or ignoring out of displeasure or contempt" is from 1701, probably via 17c. phrase make a slight of (1610s).

Idioms and Phrases with slights

slight

see in the least (slightest).