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Slight

//slaɪt// adj, name, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Minor; small in amount; Gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful.

    "give it a slight kick"

  2. 2
    Minor; small in amount; Not thorough; superficial.

    "make a slight examination"

  3. 3
    Minor; small in amount; Trifling; unimportant; insignificant.

    "we made a slight mistake"

  4. 4
    Minor; small in amount; Not far away in space or time. archaic, rare

    "in the slight future"

  5. 5
    Of slender build.

    "a slight but graceful woman"

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    Even, smooth or level. regional

    "A slight stone"

  2. 7
    Still; with little or no movement on the surface. especially

    "The sea was slight and calm"

  3. 8
    Foolish; silly; not intellectual. obsolete

    "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."

  4. 9
    Bad, of poor quality. obsolete, regional

    "1889 (first published), George Washington, Writings we frequently have slight Goods and sometimes old and unsaleable Articles"

  5. 10
    Slighting; treating with disdain. dated

    "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 […]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    being of delicate or slender build wordnet
  2. 2
    (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with ‘a’) at least some wordnet
  3. 3
    lacking substance or significance wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from Middle English.
Noun
  1. 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."

  2. 2
    a deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval) wordnet
  3. 3
    Sleight. obsolete

    "For till that stownd could never wight him harme, By subtilty, nor slight, nor might, nor mighty charme."

Verb
  1. 1
    To treat as unimportant or not worthy of attention; to make light of. transitive

    "the wretch who slights the bounty of the skies"

  2. 2
    pay no attention to, disrespect wordnet
  3. 3
    To give lesser weight or importance to. transitive

    "Incontiguously (accent on tig; the rest of the syllables slighted) means in an incontiguous manner."

  4. 4
    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. transitive

    "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."

  5. 5
    To act negligently or carelessly. intransitive
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To render no longer defensible by full or partial demolition. transitive

    "When the parliament had finished the war , they reduced and slighted most of the inland garrison"

  2. 7
    To make even or level. obsolete, transitive

    "After your ground is sowne and harrowed, you shall then clotte it, sleight it, and smooth it."

  3. 8
    To throw heedlessly. transitive

    "The rogue slighted me into the river."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

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”).

Etymology 3

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”).

Etymology 4

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

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