slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.
poor or inferior.
a slim chance; a slim excuse.
small or inconsiderable; meager; scanty.
a slim income.
sized for the thinner than average person.
to become slim.
Chiefly British. to try to become more slender, especially by dieting.
small in width relative to height or length
small in amount or quality
slim chances of success
to make or become slim, esp by diets and exercise
to reduce or decrease or cause to be reduced or decreased
See slender.
1650–60; < Dutch slim sly, (earlier) crooked (cognate with German schlimm bad, (earlier) crooked)
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Volkswagen has tried to slim down as profits have dwindled, and struck a deal with unions in late 2024 to shed 35,000 jobs by 2030 at the company’s core operations in Germany.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026
Volkswagen executives have repeatedly stressed the need for the company to slim down as collapsing sales in China have started to look less like a blip and more like a new normal.
From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026
Jeans remain the core of Levi’s business, and skinny, slim, bootcut and straight fits still make up the bulk of its bottoms segment.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 9, 2026
“The odds of it being true are slim to none,” she said, “and people need to do their research.”
From Salon • Jun. 22, 2026
Four fingers of her slim brown hand grab four fingers of his surprisingly large pale hand.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
