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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

By the end of the week, Anthropic was back on top by a slim margin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

“Tied into that, just running a lot. I’m the same weight, 215 or 220-ish, but still slim so I can move fast. Just getting in the gym every day and continuing to keep a routine.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

So the chances of this happening in any meaningful way are slim at best.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

Rayner told the BBC on Sunday: "It's a slim chance, but I'm definitely not giving it up."

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

The approaching silhouette was string-bean slim and taller than most, thanks to the stovepipe hat propped crookedly on his head.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

The project took Silicon Valley by storm in the early 2010s, as young entrepreneur Holmes drew investors -- including Henry Kissinger, Carlos Slim and Rupert Murdoch -- to her project.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

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

Fatboy Slim, whose real name is Norman Cook, is among a number of people, including Burnham and Squeeze frontman Glenn Tilbrook, to invest in the charitable community benefit society.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

George put out his hand and grabbed Slim.

From "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

A patriarch or matriarch could change his or her mind about wanting to have and manage a family office, and opportunities for promotion can be slimmer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

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

It would be slimmer yet when it had passed through the hole.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Keiko Fujimori won the June 7 presidential runoff by the slimmest of margins, outpolling leftist Roberto Sanchez by fewer than 50,000 votes out of the more than 18 million ballots cast, the final results showed.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

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

Two dozen parents who sent their daughters to summer camp are grieving, while others are waiting in anguish with the slimmest of hopes because their loved ones have yet to be found.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2025

This was in truth the slimmest of formalities, as our families had been acquainted for years.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Though the third installment of the fest has been cut down from 11 days to six, the amount of talent jammed into that week doesn’t appear to have slimmed down much at all.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026

Other consumer-goods groups have also slimmed down or sharpened their focus in recent years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

A dedicated pace coach for the senior side could be another tweak to a backroom staff previously slimmed down by McCullum.

From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026

Mr. Plemons, who has slimmed down to scarecrow dimensions to suit a character who has renounced all worldly pleasures, is one of those rare actors who never seem to be acting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 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

Continental, which has been struggling amid a crisis in the wider European auto sector, has been slimming down its operations to focus on its traditional tyre business.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

As part of the new changes, McKinsey is also slimming down its board, known internally as its shareholders council.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

It is thought to be the result of rapid slimming, rather than the medication itself.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

I’ve worn black today, because I’ve heard so often that it’s supposed to be slimming.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan