slightnessn.
/ˈslʌɪtnɪs/ The character or quality of being slight, in various senses of the word.
1. Lack of substance, strength, thoroughness, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > emptiness or insubstantiality
vacuity1593
inanity1603
slightnessa1616
outsideness1647
frothinessa1716
sleaziness1727
floatiness1839
thistledown1868
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [noun] > unsubstantiality or lack of substance
airiness1535
slightnessa1616
wanzingness1642
hollowness1648
insubsistence1651
emptiness1695
dreaminess1796
unsubstantiality1838
insubstantiality1848
aeriality1854
vapourishness1860
tenuousness1901
shimmeriness1913
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [noun] > state of having
smallnessa1387
gentilessec1405
slendernessa1538
gracility1623
slimness1727
slightness1788
jimpness1885
petiteness1887
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > [noun] > carelessness or lack of thoroughness or exactness
superficiality1618
perfunctoriness1626
slovenliness1641
overliness1650
perfunction1656
cursoriness1727
slightness1817
slapdash1826
rough and readiness1854
superficialism1860
slapdasherya1871
sloppiness1884
slapdashness1929
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. i. 151 It must omit Reall Necessities, and giue way the while To vnstable Slightnesse . View more context for this quotation
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 104 The service and firmness of the Cast-Lead, and the sleightness and the charge of the other.
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Sleaziness (of Cloth), Slightness of Workmanship.
1788 J. Reynolds Disc. Royal Acad. (1842) xiv. 254 The slightness which we see in his [Gainsborough's] best works cannot always be imputed to negligence.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India I. ii. iv. 163 It is treated with a negligence and slightness due to a matter of subordinate importance.
1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters II. 78 (note) It is..easy to know the slightness of earnest haste from the slightness of blunt feeling, indolence, or affectation.
2. Smallness in amount, degree, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun]
littlenessOE
littleheadc1350
paucity?a1425
smallness?1532
slenderness?1542
exiguity1604
fewness1617
lowness1708
slightness1747
exiguousness1888
1747 tr. J. Astruc Academical Lect. Fevers 206 A mild fever, through the slightness of the inflammation.
1846 N. Hawthorne Mosses from Old Manse II. 176 Glancing with imperceptible slightness at the artist's small and slender frame.
1884 Manch. Examiner 13 Dec. 5/2 The slightness of the change is duly appreciated elsewhere.
1889 Law Rep.: Probate Div. 14 109 The absence or slightness of the evidence.
3. Slimness, slenderness.
ΚΠ
1805 H. Lee Canterbury Tales V. 128 He had a fixed redness in his face, and had lost the slightness of his person.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.a1616