slender

English

Etymology

From Middle English slendre, sclendre, from Old French esclendre (“thin, slender”), from Old Dutch slinder (“thin, lank”), from Proto-Germanic *slindraz (“sliding, slippery”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈslɛndə/
• (General American) enPR: slĕnʹdər, IPA^(key): /ˈslɛndɚ/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: slen‧der

Adjective

slender (comparative slenderer, superlative slenderest)

1. Thin; slim.

   A rod is a long slender pole used for angling.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     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.

2. (figurative) meagre; deficient

   Being a person of slender means, he was unable to afford any luxuries.

   • 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 413:

     The grounds for the conjecture are somewhat slender.

   • 2022 January 26, Barry Doe, “Fabrik offers an end to hard times”, in RAIL, number 949, page 42:

     The slender service between Ellesmere Port and Helsby has been added, too.

3. (Gaelic languages) Palatalized.

Synonyms

• (thin): lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender
• (meagre): insufficient, scarce, sparse; see also Thesaurus:inadequate

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "palatalized"): broad
• See also Thesaurus:obese

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Lenders, lenders, relends