Meanings
slender1
comparative slenderer · comparative more slender · superlative slenderest · superlative most slender
- Thin; slim.
She is very slender.
3 more examples
A rod is a long slender pole used for angling.
Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLCSmooth and slender and naked, Mary Rittersdorf faced her husband.
1964, Philip K. Dick, “THIRTEEN”, in Clans of the Alphane Moon, United States: Ace Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996, →ISBN, page 193Synonyms: lithe
- figurativelyMeagre; deficient.
Being a person of slender means, he was unable to afford any luxuries.
2 more examples
The grounds for the conjecture are somewhat slender.
1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 413The slender service between Ellesmere Port and Helsby has been added, too.
2022 January 26, Barry Doe, “Fabrik offers an end to hard times”, in RAIL, number 949, page 42Synonyms: insufficient
- Gaelic languagesPalatalized.
present singular third person slenders · participle present slendering · participle past slendered · past slendered
- transitiveTo attenuate.
Rolled-up sleeves bared her strong forearms, which slendered down when they came to the wrists and hands.
1954, Elizabeth Bowen, A World of Love, page 38
Slender2
plural Slenders
- UKobsoleteslangA simple country gentleman.
[…] the fantastic pilgrimages imposed on the "Cousin Slenders" of the world by their more facetious comrades […]
1833, James Anthony Froude, John Tulloch, Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 7, page 4272 more examples
[…] here also, behind the pillars, dark villains like Varney, and assassins like Iago, watched the simple country Slenders and the besotted Master Mathews, themselves grimly observed by honest water-carriers like Ben Jonson's Cob and Shakespeare's Adam.
1871, Belgravia, page 462A walk through the pleasant little town of Cirencester upon a market day will show Slenders and Simples by the dozen.
1877, Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 15, page 492
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveThin; slim.
adjectiveMeagre; deficient.
antonym(s) of “palatalized”
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehaving little width in proportion to the length or height
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
slender · adjective, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃sleydʰ-“to slip”
- Proto-Germanic*slindraz“sliding, slippery”
- Middle Dutchslinder“thin, lank”
- Old Frenchesclendre“thin, slender”
- Middle Englishslendre
- Englishslender
From Middle English slendre, sclendre, from Old French esclendre (“thin, slender”), from Middle Dutch slinder (“thin, lank”), from Proto-Germanic *slindraz (“sliding, slippery”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (“to slip”). Cognate with Bavarian Schlenderling (“that which dangles”), German schlendern (“to saunter, stroll”), Dutch slidderen, slinderen (“to wriggle, creep like a serpent”), Low German slindern (“to slide on ice”). More at slide, slither.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Slender · noun
From the character of Abraham Slender in Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ῥαδινός
- ῥαδινός (rhadinós)thin
Arabic نَحِيف, أَهْيَف
- نَحِيف (naḥīf)thin
- أَهْيَف (ʔahyaf)thin
- نَحِيل (naḥīl)thin
Bulgarian стро́ен, тъ́нък
- стро́ен (stróen)thin
- тъ́нък (tắnăk)thin
Catalan esvelt
- esveltthin
Chinese Mandarin 苗條 /苗条
- 苗條 /苗条 (miáotiáo)thin
Czech štíhlý, útlý
- štíhlýthin
- útlýthin
Danish slank
- slankthin
Dutch slank
- slankthin
Esperanto svelta
- sveltathin
Finnish hoikka
- hoikkathin
French svelte, mince
- sveltethin
- mincethin
German schlank
- schlankthin
Greek ισχνός, ραδινός
- ισχνός (ischnós)thin
- ραδινός (radinós)thin
- λεπτός (leptós)thin
- άπλερος (ápleros)thin
- βράδινος (brádinos)thin
Hindi पतला
- पतला (patlā)thin
Hungarian vékony, karcsú
- vékonythin
- karcsúthin
Irish caol, seangchruthach
- caolthin
- seangchruthachthin
Italian snello
- snellothin
Japanese ほっそりした, 細い
- ほっそりした (hossori shita)thin
- 細い (hosoi)thin
- 細長い (hosonagai)thin
Korean 날씬하다
- 날씬하다 (nalssinhada)thin
Latin tenuis, gracilis
- tenuisthin
- gracilisthin
Latvian slaids
- slaidsthin
Māori tūpuhi, tūpuhipuhi
- tūpuhithin
- tūpuhipuhithin
- pūhihithin
- pīrahirahithin
Norwegian Bokmål slank
- slankthin
Polish szczupły, smukły
- szczupłythin
- smukłythin
Portuguese esbelto, magro
- esbeltothin
- magrothin
Romanian subtire
- subtirethin
Russian то́нкий, стро́йный
- то́нкий (tónkij)thin
- стро́йный (strójnyj)thin
Scottish Gaelic caol, seang
- caolthin
- seangthin
Slovak štíhly, tenký
- štíhlythin
- tenkýthin
Spanish esbelto, slender (slénder)
- esbeltothin
- slender (slénder)thin
Swedish slank
- slankthin
Ukrainian струнки́й, тонки́й
- струнки́й (strunkýj)thin
- тонки́й (tonkýj)thin
Urdu پتلا
- پتلا (patlā)thin
Vietnamese mảnh khảnh
- mảnh khảnhthin
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with slender
Cite this entry
slender. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slender
“slender.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slender. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “slender,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slender.
Source: slender on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.