slim

adj

/ˈslɪm//slɪm/

Etymology

Borrowing from Low German or Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”), from Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”), from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-West Germanic *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”). The sense development would have been "slanting, cunning" (Dutch) > "insignificant, slight" and then "thin, graceful" in English, a shift that Liberman calls an "incredible amelioration" of word meaning. The pejorative sense found in Low German and Dutch is also found preserved in the archaic English noun slim (“worthless or lazy person”), also comparable to the South African use of the adjective as "crafty, sly." Compare Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”), Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”), German schlimm (“bad”), West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”).

derived from *slimbaz✻
derived from *slimb✻
derived from *slimb✻
derived from slim
borrowed from slim

Definitions

1
Slender
Slender; thin.
- Movie stars are usually slim, attractive, and young.
2
Very small, tiny.
- I'm afraid your chances are quite slim.
- Wolves' debatable third in the last 10 minutes, with the ball only crossing the line by the slimmest of margins if at all, ensured a cracking finale, although City would have been left aggrieved had they let the win slip.
3
Bad, of questionable quality
Bad, of questionable quality; not strongly built, flimsy.
- A slimly-shod lad;
- a slimly-made cart.
›+ 11 more definitionsshow fewer
1. Sly, crafty.
2. 5
  A type of cigarette substantially longer and thinner than normal cigarettes.
  - I only smoke slims.
3. A potato farl.
4. 7
  AIDS, or the chronic wasting associated with its later stages.
  - As in the West, only about 50 per cent of patients with slim fully investigated will have a putative pathogen identified.
5. Cocaine.
6. To lose weight in order to achieve slimness.
7. To make slimmer
  To make slimmer; to reduce in size.
8. 11
  Alternative form of sling (“type of alcoholic mixed drink”)
  - Crump, having fortified himself with a bobstick of rum slim, moved cautiously among the crowds who bustled along Fleet Street.
9. A surname.
10. A male given name.
11. Acronym of short linear motif.

The neighborhood

Derived

slim client, slim-fit, slim jim, slimline, slimly, slimmish, slimnastics, slim pickings, slimplectic, slimsy, slim-thick, slimwear, slimwing, slimwood, superslim, ultraslim, unslim, slim down

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at slim. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at slim. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at slim

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA