slightest

1. 1
   adjective

   Superlative of slight.

   The negotiators refused to budge even the slightest distance.

   There was not the slightest doubt in her mind about the verdict.

   Note

   A superlative that rarely ranks anything. In "the slightest effort made the patient cough" or "not the slightest interest," it means "even the smallest amount," and the point is how little was needed or how little exists. It draws on the "trifling, insignificant" side of slight. Paired with not, it works as an emphatic denial. The same spelling also serves an old verb form meaning 'you disregard'.

2. 2
   verbarchaic

   Second-person singular simple present indicative of slight.

   Note

   Only ever paired with thou: the -est ending marks the old familiar "you" form of the verb meaning to disregard or treat with disdain, as in "thou slightest my counsel." It belongs to archaic or deliberately old-fashioned writing. Anyone imitating that style should keep the ending on every verb that shares the subject: thou slightest and walkest, not thou slightest and walk.

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