thinner1
[thin-er]
- 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.
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Origin of thinner1
thinner2
[thin-er]
- comparative of thin.
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thin
[thin]
- 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.
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- in a thin manner.
- sparsely; not densely.
- so as to produce something thin: Slice the ham thin.
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- to make thin or thinner (often followed by down, out, etc.).
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- to become thin or thinner; become reduced or diminished (often followed by down, out, off, etc.): The crowd is thinning out.
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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
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com3. 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
fragileslimleanmeagergauntdelicatesmallskinnynarrowwispyflimsytranslucentpaper-thinpoorflatshallowsparsethicktransparentskimpyExamples from the Web for thinner
Contemporary Examples
Diets not only fail to make us thinner, they also fail to make us healthier in the long term.
By comparison, Let Me Be Frank With You—as one meaning of the title suggests—is direct and thinner.
Like thinner and translucent for summer and warmer for winter.
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 AppleKyle Chayka
September 9, 2014
Like many young girls, Flores used to idealize a thinner body.
Historical Examples
She was thin, thinner than ever, and stiff as if she had withered.
Life and Death of Harriett FreanMay Sinclair
This triangle they filled with a thinner stone carved with two lions.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
You are thinner than a grasshopper, and you won't make it any heavier.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
I thought I looked ugly, and it seemed to me I was thinner than ever and not so tall.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
She grew thinner and thinner, till at last nothing was left of her but her voice.
Classic MythsMary Catherine Judd
thinner
- (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
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thin
- 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
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- in order to produce something thinto cut bread thin
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- to make or become thin or sparse
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Word Origin
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
n.
liquid used to dilute paint, ink, etc., 1904, agent noun from thin (v.).
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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.
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thin
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.