thin

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   without viscosity

   The blood was flowing thin.

2. 2
   adj

   not very dense

   They have thin beards.

3. 3
   adj

   lacking excess flesh

   You can't be too rich or too thin.

4. 4
   adj

   of sound, lacking resonance or volume

   The cat gave a thin feeble cry.

5. 5
   adj

   lacking substance or significance

   Your argument is thin.

6. 6
   adj

   lacking spirit or sincere effort

   Their thin smile hid something more sinister.

7. 7
   adj

   of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section

   I used a thin wire to tie the parts together.

8. 8
   adj

   relatively thin in consistency or low in density

   This grain is rather thin.

Etymology

From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”). Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Polish cienki, Russian тонкий (tonkij), Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.