thin
/ˈθɪn/ adjective, noun, verb, adverb
Forms thinner thinnest thins thinning thinned
- adjective Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. “thin plate of metal; thin paper; thin board; thin covering”
- adjective Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions. “thin wire; thin string”
- adjective Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt. “thin person”
- adjective Of low viscosity or low specific gravity. “Water is thinner than honey.”
- adjective Scarce; not close, crowded, or numerous; not filling the space. “The trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin.”
- adjective (golf) Describing a poorly played golf shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head. See fat, shank, toe.
- adjective Lacking body or volume; small; feeble; not full. “a thin, tight-lipped smile”
- adjective Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering. “a thin disguise”
- noun (philately) A loss or tearing of paper from the back of a stamp, although not sufficient to create a complete hole.
- noun Any food produced or served in thin slices.
- verb (transitive) To make thin or thinner.
- verb (intransitive) To become thin or thinner. “The crowds thinned after the procession had passed: there was nothing more to see.”
- verb To dilute.
- verb To remove some plants or parts of plants in order to improve the growth of what remains.
- adverb Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.
Synonyms
narrow twiggy fine reedy runny spaced out scant scarce slight skinny slender slim svelte waifish scrawny watery sparse dilute thin out reduce cut melt off lose weight slenderize slim down lean flimsy fragile tenuous thinly
Antonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite; as, a thin plate of metal; thin paper; a thin board; a thin covering.
- adjective Rare; not dense or thick; --applied to fluids or soft mixtures; as, thin blood; thin broth; thin air. Shak.
- adverb Not thickly or closely; in a seattered state; as, seed sown thin.
- verb To make thin (in any of the senses of the adjective).
Etymology [OE. thinne, thenne, thunne, AS. þynne; akin to D. dun, G. dünn, OHG. dunni, Icel. þunnr, Sw. tunn, Dan. tynd, Gael. & Ir. tana, W. teneu, L. tenuis, Gr. tanu thin, slender; also to AS. to extend, G. dehnen, Icel. , Goth. (in comp.), L. tendere to stretch, tenere to hold, Gr. tan. *51 & 237. Cf. Attenuate, Dance, Tempt, Tenable, Tend to move, Tenous, Thunder, Tone.]
Etymology [Cf. AS. geþynnian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “thin”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details