Word.ws English Dictionary

slight

/slaɪt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British[slɑjt]

slight adjective: minor; small in amount.

Adjective

slight (comparative slighter, superlative slightest)

  1. Minor; small in amount
    • The forecast calls for a slight warming trend in the coming days, with sunny skies and daytime temperatures reaching the midteens on Sunday and Monday, when the men will hit the snowboard course.2022 February 4, John Branch, “U.S. snowboarder Jamie Anderson qualifies for the slopestyle final.”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2022
    1. Gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful.
      • give it a slight kick
      • a slight hint of cinnamon
    2. Not thorough; superficial.
      • make a slight examination
    3. Trifling; unimportant; insignificant.
      • we made a slight mistake
      • a slight pain
    4. (archaic, rare) Not far away in space or time.
      • in the slight future
  2. Of slender build.
    • a slight but graceful woman
    • his own figure, which was formerly so slight1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak
  3. (regional) Even, smooth or level.
    • A slight stone
  4. (especially) Still; with little or no movement on the surface.
    • The sea was slight and calm
  5. (obsolete) Foolish; silly; not intellectual.
    • But no beast ever was so slight,
      For man, as for his god, to fight;
      They have more wit, alas! and know
      Themselves and us better than so.1859, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Canto 1, lines 781-784
  6. (obsolete, regional) Bad, of poor quality.
    • 1889 (first published), George Washington, Writings
      we frequently have slight Goods and sometimes old and unsaleable Articles
  7. (dated) Slighting; treating with disdain.
    • This slight way of treating both his book and his ancestors nettled little Puddock – who never himself took a liberty, and expected similar treatment – but he knew Sturk, the nature of the beast, and he only bowed grandly […]1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard

Verb

slight (third-person singular simple present slights, present participle slighting, simple past and past participle slighted)

  1. (transitive) To treat as unimportant or not worthy of attention; to make light of.
    • the wretch who slights the bounty of the skies1782, William Cowper, Truth
    Synonyms:
    take lightly
  2. (transitive) To give lesser weight or importance to.
    • Incontiguously (accent on tig; the rest of the syllables slighted) means in an incontiguous manner.1915, Josephine Turck Baker, Correct English, volumes 16-17, page 182
    Antonyms:
    respect, value, esteem
  3. (transitive) To treat (someone or something) with disdain or neglect, usually out of prejudice, hatred, or jealousy; to ignore disrespectfully; to skimp on one's duties toward.
    • Though true of heart, she was somewhat of a coquette in manner; and I was jealous as a Turk. She slighted me in a thousand ways, yet would never acknowledge herself to be in the wrong. She would drive me mad with anger, and then force me to beg her pardon.1833, Mary Shelley, The Mortal Immortal
  4. (intransitive) To act negligently or carelessly.
  5. (transitive) To render no longer defensible by full or partial demolition.
    • When the parliament had finished the war , they reduced and slighted most of the inland garrison1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed...
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To make even or level.
    • After your ground is sowne and harrowed, you shall then clotte it, sleight it, and smooth it.1620, Gervase Markham, Farwell to Hvsbandry
    Synonyms:
    flatten, level
  7. (transitive) To throw heedlessly.
    • The rogue slighted me into the river.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    Synonyms:
    bung, hurl, soss, cast, chuck, chunk, cook, dash, dump, feck

Noun

slight (plural slights)

  1. The act of ignoring or snubbing; a deliberate act of neglect or discourtesy.
    • Never use a slighting expression to her, even in jest; for slights in jest, after frequent bandyings, are apt to end in angry earnest.1793, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
    • But you, you're not allowed
      You're uninvited
      An unfortunate slight1997, Alanis Morissette, “Uninvited”, performed by Alanis Morissette
    Antonyms:
    respect
  2. (obsolete) Sleight.
    • For till that stownd could never wight him harme,
      By subtilty, nor slight, nor might, nor mighty charme.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XXXVI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

Proper noun capitalized: Slight

Slight (plural Slights)

  1. A surname from Middle English.

slight meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

slight in Hindi

small in amount, insignificant
थोड़ा thoṛā

slight in Tamil

அலட்சியப்படுத்து

slight in Urdu

بےوقعت, دھیما, خفیف, قلیل, تھوڑا سا

slight in Bengali

slight
একটু ekṭu
slight, sparse
পাতলা patola
More languagesFewer languages
slight in Telugu
నీరు nīru, ఎల ela, బడి baḍi, గోరు gōru
slight in Malayalam
അവഗണന avagaṇana
slight in Kannada
ಅಶ್ರದ್ಧೆ, ಅಲಕ್ಷ್ಯ, ತಾತ್ಸಾರ, ಅವಗಣನೆ
slight in Punjabi
ਵਾਜਬੀ vājabī, ਮਾੜਾ māṛā
slight in Odia
ଅଳ୍ପ aḷpa
slight in Sanskrit
मृदु mṛdú
slight in Arabic
طَفِيف ṭafīf

Examples of slight in a sentence

  • a slight (i.e. not convincing) argument
  • Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
  • Some firmly embrace doctrines upon slight grounds.1741, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education & of the Conduct of the Understanding:
  • Slight is the subject, but not so the praise.1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard...
  • But now, ten years later, after his recent shipwreck, he cannot compete as a runner, though he can outthrow the slighter Phaeacians with the heaviest discus.2002, Eva Brann, Homeric Moments, page 48:

All 40 example sentences with slight

Synonyms of slight

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

7 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of slight

Forms of slight

Adjective
comparativeslighter
superlativeslightest
Verb
third-person singular presentslights
present participleslighting
past participleslighted
pastslighted
Noun
pluralslights
Proper noun
pluralSlights

Past tense of slight: slighted

Origin of slight

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 Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).

Scottish surname from Middle English slight (“smooth; slim, slender, skinny”), a nickname for a slim or skinny person.

Words formed from slight

Phrases with slight

Words that rhyme with slight

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about slight

What does slight mean?
Slight means minor; small in amount.
What is slight in Hindi?
Slight in Hindi is थोड़ा (thoṛā). See Slight meaning in Hindi.
How do you use slight in a sentence?
a slight (i.e. not convincing) argument
What part of speech is slight?
Slight can be an adjective, a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce slight?
Slight is pronounced /slaɪt/.

Words near slight in the dictionary

  1. Sligars
  2. Sliger
  3. Sligers
  4. sligh
  5. Slighs
  6. slight
  7. slight of hand
  8. slighted
  9. slighten
  10. slightened
  11. slightening

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: slight (page history and authors); Slight (page history and authors); slight (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); slight (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); একটু (Bengali) (page history and authors); ఎల (Telugu) (page history and authors); slight (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਮਾੜਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ଅଳ୍ପ (Odia) (page history and authors); मृदु (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-slight.ogg.

Cite this entry: “slight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/slight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.