# slight

Pronunciation: say "SLYT" US/UK /slaɪt/, AUS /slɑɪt/

## Adjective

1. Trifling, unimportant, or insignificant; too minor to deserve serious attention or concern.
   - Simple: Very small and not important enough to worry about.
   - _The merger will have only a slight effect on consumer prices._
   - _Not the slightest doubt remained in her mind._
2. Not thorough or complete; superficial, touching a subject only lightly rather than examining it carefully.
   - Simple: Done quickly and without much care or detail.
   - _A slight reading of the contract missed several important clauses._
   - _The inspector's slight examination of the bridge failed to catch the cracked beam._
3. Gentle or weak in force, rather than aggressive or powerful.
   - Simple: Soft and weak rather than strong or forceful.
   - _A slight current carried the canoe downstream._
   - _His slight tap on the window was barely audible inside._
4. Slender and delicately built, with a small or thin frame.
   - Simple: Thin and small in body, not heavy or wide.
   - _The gymnast's slight frame hid remarkable power._
   - _He was a slight man, easy to lose in a crowd._
10. Smooth and calm, with scarcely a ripple stirring the surface, as of water on a windless day.
   - Simple: Calm and still, with almost nothing moving on the surface.
   - _The harbor lay slight under a windless sky, perfect for the rowing race._
   - _Anglers prefer slight water, where every rise of a trout shows plainly._
12. Even, smooth, or level, as a stretch of ground or a worked surface. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: Even, smooth, or flat, like ground with no bumps.
   - _Beyond the stone wall the land runs slight all the way to the beck._
   - _He planed the board until it was slight enough to take a coat of paint._

## Verb

5. To treat someone or something with disdain or deliberate neglect, often out of prejudice, hatred, or jealousy; to ignore disrespectfully or neglect one's duties toward.
   - Simple: To treat someone badly by ignoring them on purpose.
   - _Critics accused the gallery of slighting younger artists out of snobbery._
   - _Voters rarely forgive politicians who slight their hometowns._
7. To brush something aside as minor, regarding it as not worth one's attention.
   - Simple: To act as if something does not matter at all.
   - _Historians often slight the role of luck in great discoveries._
   - _The committee slighted her objections and moved straight to a vote._
8. To assign less weight or importance to something than to other considerations.
   - Simple: To give something less attention or importance than other things.
   - _Standard rankings slight colleges that serve part-time students._
   - _The biography slights her later work in favor of her famous early novels._
9. To act negligently or carelessly, failing to give proper care or attention.
   - Simple: To behave carelessly and not do things properly.
   - _Apprentices who slight in their work never earn a master's trust._
   - _The steward had slighted in his duties, and the accounts fell into disarray._
13. To throw or toss something heedlessly, with no care for where or how it lands.
   - Simple: To throw something in a careless way, without looking or thinking.
   - _She slighted the letters into the fire without reading a single one._
   - _The workers would slight the sacks off the wagon, splitting half of them open._
14. To render a fortification no longer defensible through full or partial demolition.
   - Simple: To destroy parts of a castle or fort so it cannot be defended anymore.
   - _Parliament voted to slight the captured strongholds rather than garrison them._
   - _The victorious forces slighted the citadel, toppling its towers and breaching its walls._

## Noun

6. A deliberate act of discourtesy or neglect; an instance of snubbing or ignoring someone.
   - Simple: An unkind act of ignoring someone or leaving them out on purpose.
   - _The ambassador read the seating arrangement as a deliberate slight._
   - _He kept a mental list of slights, real and imagined._

## Adjective

11. Disdainful or dismissive in manner; showing contempt or a lack of respect. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Rude in a way that shows you think someone does not matter.
   - _He answered in a slight, offhand way that bordered on rudeness._
   - _Her slight reception of the guests did not go unnoticed at court._
15. Near at hand; not far away in space or time. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Close by, not far away in place or time.
   - _Take heart. The harbor lies but a slight way off, and we shall make it by dusk._
   - _Her wedding was but a slight while past when the letter arrived._
16. Foolish or silly; lacking intellect or seriousness of mind. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Foolish or silly, not thinking in a careful or serious way.
17. Bad or of poor quality, as of goods or workmanship. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Bad or of poor quality, not made well.
   - _The thatch proved slight work and let in the rain before winter was out._
   - _Buyers complained that the merchant's rope was slight stuff, fraying at the first hard pull._

## Verb

18. To make something even or level, as by smoothing or flattening it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make a surface flat, even, or smooth.
   - _Laborers slighted the courtyard with rollers before the paving stones were laid._
   - _The steward bade them slight the road where the floods had rutted it._

## Noun

19. Cunning or dexterity, or a crafty trick performed with it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Skill or a clever trick, often used to fool people.
   - _He gained entry by slight rather than by force, talking his way past the porter._
   - _The juggler's every slight drew gasps from the market crowd._

## Origin

This word comes from Middle English slight ('bad, poor, trivial, slender, smooth, level'), from Old English sliht ('smooth, level'), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz ('slippery, flat, level'). It is related to English 'slick', and has cognates such as Dutch slecht ('bad'), German schlecht ('bad') and schlicht ('plain'), and Swedish slät ('smooth').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/slight (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).