thinner

[ thin-er ]

/ ˈθɪn ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thinner ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a volatile liquid, as turpentine, used to dilute paint, varnish, rubber cement, etc., to the desired or proper consistency.

a person who adds thinners to paints, varnishes, etc.

a person who specializes in weeding plants, pruning shrubbery, thinning fruit, etc.

Nearby words

Origin of thinner

First recorded in 1825–35; thin + -er¹

thinner

[ thin-er ]

/ ˈθɪn ər /

adjective

comparative of thin.

thin

[ thin ]

/ θɪn /

adjective, thin·ner, thin·nest.

having relatively little extent from one surface or side to the opposite; not thick: thin ice.

of small cross section in comparison with the length; slender: a thin wire.

having little flesh; spare; lean: a thin man.

composed of or containing objects, particles, etc., widely separated; sparse: thin vegetation.

scant; not abundant or plentiful.

of relatively slight consistency or viscosity: thin soup.

rarefied, as air.

without solidity or substance; flimsy: a very thin plot for such a long book.

lacking fullness or volume; weak and shrill: a thin voice.

without force or a sincere effort: a thin smile.

lacking body, richness, or strength: a thin wine.

lacking in chroma; of light tint.

Photography. (of a developed negative) lacking in density or contrast through underdevelopment or underexposure.

adverb

in a thin manner.

sparsely; not densely.

so as to produce something thin: Slice the ham thin.

verb (used with object), thinned, thin·ning.

to make thin or thinner (often followed by down, out, etc.).

verb (used without object), thinned, thin·ning.

to become thin or thinner; become reduced or diminished (often followed by down, out, off, etc.): The crowd is thinning out.

Origin of thin

before 900; (adj. and adv.) Middle English thyn(ne), Old English thynne; cognate with Dutch dun, German dünn, Old Norse thunnr; (v.) Middle English thynnen, Old English thynnian, derivative of the adj.; compare Middle Dutch dunnen, Old Norse thynna; akin to Old Irish tana, Latin tenuis thin, Greek tany- long

SYNONYMS FOR thin

3. slim, slender, skinny, lank, scrawny. Thin, gaunt, lean, spare agree in referring to one having little flesh. Thin applies often to one in an unnaturally reduced state, as from sickness, overwork, lack of food, or the like: a thin, dirty little waif. Gaunt suggests the angularity of bones prominently displayed in a thin face and body: to look ill and gaunt. Lean usually applies to a person or animal that is naturally thin: looking lean but healthy after an outdoor vacation. Spare implies a muscular leanness with no diminution of vitality: Lincoln was spare in body. 5. meager. 8. weak.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thin ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

thin·ly, adverbthin·ness, nouno·ver·thin, adjectiveo·ver·thin·ly, adverb

o·ver·thin·ness, nounself-thin·ning, adjectivesu·per·thin, adjectiveun·thinned, adjectiveun·thin·ning, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thinner

Diets not only fail to make us thinner, they also fail to make us healthier in the long term.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail|Carrie Arnold|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By comparison, Let Me Be Frank With You—as one meaning of the title suggests—is direct and thinner.
Richard Ford’s Artful Survivalist Guide: The Return of Frank Bascombe|Tom LeClair|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like thinner and translucent for summer and warmer for winter.
Tatiana Sorokko Is the Queen of Vintage Couture|Anthony Haden-Guest|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And in expected Apple fashion, the phones are thinner and faster than ever before.
Bigger, Bolder, and Better Than Ever: Steve Jobs Would Be Proud of Today's Apple|Kyle Chayka|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Like many young girls, Flores used to idealize a thinner body.
Penthouse Forum’s Kelly Shibari and the Rise of Plus-Size Porn Stars|Aurora Snow|May 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They had drifted from the outskirts of the crowded table and found themselves in the thinner crowd of saunterers.
Septimus|William J. Locke
And as the water weeds he ate did not agree with him, he got thinner and thinner, and at last he died.
The sop for Children|sop
With two holes for blowing and for modulating the sound, perforated towards the thinner end.
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume I (of 2)|Carl Engel
And the child was the same, with a fever that consumed his little body, which grew thinner and thinner.
The Cabin|Vicente Blasco Ibez
The fog was getting thicker instead of thinner and it was impossible to see anything like a sign post.
The Campfire Girls Go Motoring|Hildegard G. Frey

British Dictionary definitions for thinner

thinner

/ (ˈθɪnə) /

noun

(often plural, functioning as singular) a solvent, such as turpentine, added to paint or varnish to dilute it, reduce its opacity or viscosity, or increase its penetration into the ground

thin

/ (θɪn) /

adjective thinner or thinnest

of relatively small extent from one side or surface to the other; fine or narrow

slim or lean

sparsely placed; meagrethin hair

of relatively low density or viscositya thin liquid

weak; poor; insufficienta thin disguise

(of a photographic negative) having low density, usually insufficient to produce a satisfactory positive

mountaineering a climb or pitch on which the holds are few and small

thin on the ground few in number; scarce

adverb

in order to produce something thinto cut bread thin

verb thins, thinning or thinned

to make or become thin or sparse

Derived Formsthinly, adverbthinness, noun

Word Origin for thin

Old English thynne; related to Old Frisian thenne, Old Saxon, Old High German thunni, Old Norse thunnr, Latin tenuis thin, Greek teinein to stretch

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 thinner

thinner

liquid used to dilute paint, ink, etc., 1904, agent noun from thin (v.).

thin

adj.

Old English þynne "narrow, lean, scanty," from Proto-Germanic *thunnuz, *thunw- (cf. West Frisian ten, Middle Low German dunne, Dutch dun, Old High German dunni, German dünn, Old Norse þunnr), from PIE *tnus-, *tnwi-, from weak grade of root *ten- "stretch" (cf. Latin tenuis "thin, slender;" see tenet).

These our actors ... were all Spirits, and Are melted into Ayre, into thin Ayre. [Shakespeare, "The Tempest," IV.i.150, 1610]

Thin-skinned is attested from 1590s; the figurative sense of "touchy" is from 1670s.

thin

Old English þynnian "to make thin" (cf. German dünnen, Dutch dunnen), from thin (adj.). Intransitive sense of "to become less numerous" is attested from 1743; that of "to become thinner" is recorded from 1804. Related: Thinned; thinning.

Idioms and Phrases with thinner

thin

In addition to the idioms beginning with thin

thin as a rail
thin edge of the wedge
thing or two
things are looking up
thin on top

also see:

into thin air
on thin ice
spread oneself too thin
through thick and thin
wear thin

thinner

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of thinner

thinner

adjective

thin

adjective, thin·ner, thin·nest.

adverb

verb (used with object), thinned, thin·ning.

verb (used without object), thinned, thin·ning.

Origin of thin

Examples from the Web for thinner

thinner

noun

thin

adjective thinner or thinnest

adverb

verb thins, thinning or thinned

Word Origin for thin

thinner

thin

thin

thin