| / English Dictionary |
SLIGHT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval)
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("slight" is a kind of...):
discourtesy; offence; offense; offensive activity (a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "slight"):
cold shoulder; cut; snub (a refusal to recognize someone you know)
silent treatment (an aloof refusal to speak to someone you know)
Derivation:
slight (pay no attention to, disrespect)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Being of delicate or slender build
Example:
watched her slight figure cross the street
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
lean; thin (lacking excess flesh)
Derivation:
slightness (the property of an attractively thin person)
slightness (smallness of stature)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with 'a') at least some
Example:
there's a slight chance it will work
Synonyms:
little; slight
Classified under:
Similar:
small (slight or limited; especially in degree or intensity or scope)
Also:
less ((comparative of 'little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Lacking substance or significance
Example:
a fragile claim to fame
Synonyms:
flimsy; fragile; slight; tenuous; thin
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
insignificant; unimportant (devoid of importance, meaning, or force)
Derivation:
slightness (the quality of being unimportant and petty or frivolous)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they slight ... he / she / it slights
Past simple: slighted
Past participle: slighted
-ing form: slighting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Pay no attention to, disrespect
Example:
She cold-shouldered her ex-fiance
Synonyms:
cold-shoulder; slight
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "slight" is one way to...):
brush aside; brush off; discount; dismiss; disregard; ignore; push aside (bar from attention or consideration)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
slight (a deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval))
Context examples:
The blood-stains in the room and also on the stick are very slight.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
To feel herself slighted by them was very painful.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
The slight had been most determined.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
“Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence,” I remarked.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But his stomach did not give him the slightest uneasiness.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Reginald Musgrave had been in the same college as myself, and I had some slight acquaintance with him.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It may have a slight wave on its back, but the coat is otherwise straight.
(Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever, NCI Thesaurus)
A slight or incomplete paralysis of an extraocular muscle.
(Extraocular Muscle Paresis, NCI Thesaurus)
Elizabeth answered only by a slight bow.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
And hence, as I think, it came about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter and younger than Henry Jekyll.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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