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• slim
  slim

  adjective

  slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.
• Slim
  Slim

  noun

  the E African name for AIDS

slim

American  

[slim] / slɪm /

adjective

• slimmer,
  comparative
• slimmest
  superlative

1. slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.

   Synonyms:

   thin

   Antonyms:

   fat

2. poor or inferior.

   a slim chance; a slim excuse.

3. small or inconsiderable; meager; scanty.

   a slim income.

   Synonyms:

   paltry, trivial, trifling, insignificant

   Antonyms:

   abundant, considerable

4. sized for the thinner than average person.

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verb (used with object)

slimmed, slimming

1. to make slim.

verb (used without object)

slimmed, slimming

1. to become slim.

2. Chiefly British. to try to become more slender, especially by dieting.

noun

1. a garment size meant for a thin person.

verb phrase

1. slim down

   1. to lose weight, especially intentionally.

   2. (of a business) to reduce operating expenses; economize.

slim ¹ British  

/ slɪm /

adjective

1. small in width relative to height or length

2. small in amount or quality

   slim chances of success

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verb

1. to make or become slim, esp by diets and exercise

2. to reduce or decrease or cause to be reduced or decreased

Slim ² British  

/ slɪm /

noun

1. the E African name for AIDS

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Slim ³ British  

/ slɪm /

noun

1. William Joseph , 1st Viscount. 1891–1970, British field marshal, who commanded (1943–45) the 14th Army in the reconquest of Burma (now called Myanmar) from the Japanese; governor general of Australia (1953–60)

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Synonym Usage

See slender.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• slimmer
  noun
• slimness
  noun
• unslimness
  noun
• unslim
  adjective
• unslimmed
  adjective
• slimly
  adverb
• unslimly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• slimmer
  comparative
• slimmest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of slim

1650–60; < Dutch slim sly, (earlier) crooked (cognate with German schlimm bad, (earlier) crooked)

Explanation

Anything slim is thin or narrow. So, your sister may be considered slim, and you could also have "a slim chance" of winning the lottery. Slim people are slender, and slim things are usually delicate, like a slim watch band. You can also use slim to describe a margin or a chance: "There was only a slim likelihood that the home team would win this game." Back in the early 1800s, to slim meant "to do one's work carelessly," and in the seventeenth century, the adjective was also used to mean "sly or crafty."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slim Slim slimmer slimmest slimmed slimming

Carlos Irving Quintana, a slim 14-year-old with purple hair, wins cheers of approval with his enactment of the iconic "Siuuu" leap of Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo when he scores a goal.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

It is slim pickings when assessing Hull's assets, so it's likely best to look at players from other clubs for your FPL teams at this point.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Mortgage and student-loan balances marked a slim decline, while home-equity lines of credit, credit-card balances, auto loans rose.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

He and his wife are hoping to start a family, but the area’s housing options are slim.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The odds of nobody ever getting sick again seem pretty slim.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

The tasting was one of dozens of tests the maker of Slim Jims and Hungry-Man dinners is conducting with an eye toward the conundrum presented by GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The maker of Slim Jim and Healthy Choice has seen its shares slide by 26% over the past 12 months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Conagra is known for grocery-aisle staples like Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, and Marie Callender’s.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

Fatboy Slim will perform an exclusive DJ set at The Pipeline in Brighton, external, where the capacity is just 60 people; while grime legend D Double E plays a warehouse gig at Nottingham's Brickworks.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

Next time down the guy Slim took me baseline again, but just as he was laying the rock up over the rim, Rondell came out of nowhere and swatted his shot out of bounds.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

Just inside the door, there was a flimsy mannequin with the face of a much younger, slimmer Trump, wearing a red “Trump 2028” hat, a dark suit, and a signature red tie.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Soon, the fun fan shot was replaced by one of those grim before-and-after shots: An obese Goodman in his 30s and the slimmer Goodman in his 70s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Responding to the watchdog, Jaded London argued it was "not clear" the model was holding a cigarette because it was slimmer than normal and "did not appear to be lit".

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

We have to demonstrate the performance of this much longer, much slimmer wing in terms of reduced fuel consumption.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

If you look considerably slimmer, diary, it’s only because you have been my all-purpose supply book.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

With Sri Lanka chasing down the target with ease, the Australians are left clinging to only the slimmest mathematical hope and will watch nervously as Zimbabwe face Ireland on Tuesday.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

To evoke the fractured psyche of the characters, Morrison’s narratives are highly disjointed, switching among different points of view and time periods with only the slimmest semantic clues offered for orientation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

Playing in the Open Division requires extreme focus on taking it one game at a time and never looking ahead because every game can be won or lost by the slimmest of margins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026

In a semi-final dominated by the return, Gauff edged Paolini by the slimmest of margins.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025

Scythe Curie offered Citra the slimmest of grins.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman cut deeper into the lead of reality television personality Spencer Pratt on Saturday, as his lead slimmed to just a single percentage point.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

England have slimmed down their backroom staff since McCullum took charge.

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026

Rising labor costs had slimmed margins for many Amazon deliveries done by UPS.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025

Hilton slimmed down its full-year outlook, too, lowering the upper end of its expected range for revenue per available room.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025

She’d slimmed down and shot up and started worrying about clothes.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Traditionally, he says, men "almost need a bit of a scare" to start trying to shed the pounds, seeing it as something private and shunning the more social approach some women prefer, like slimming clubs.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

It is like “everyone was just given the ability to take a GLP-1,” says Reno, comparing the AI’s slimming effects on companies to weight-loss drugs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

As he boosts RIG, Navratil has set about slimming down Nestlé.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

As part of a vast slimming down of its business, which has included selling some medical practices, UnitedHealth also said it completed the sale of Optum UK for $400 million.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026

The column of light in front of us is closing, slimming into a pinpoint.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer