slight

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Very small in amount or degree.

   There has been a slight improvement in her health.

2. 2
   adj

   Thin and delicate in build.

   She was a slight but graceful woman.

Common collocations

• slight difference Adjective + noun
• slight drop Adjective + noun

From Middle English slight (“bad, of poor quality, unimportant, trivial, slender, slim, smooth, level”), from Old English sliht (“smooth, level”), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“slippery, flat, level, plain”), related to English slick. Cognate with Scots slicht (“bad, of poor quality”), West Frisian sljocht (“smooth, level, plain, simple”), Dutch slecht (“bad”), Low German slecht (“bad”), German schlecht (“bad”) and schlicht (“plain, artless, natural”), Danish slet (“bad, evil, poor, nasty, wrong”), Swedish slät (“smooth”), Norwegian slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).

Topics