Word forms: comparative slighter, superlative slightest, plural, 3rd person singular presenttense slights, present participle slighting, past tense, past participle slighted
1. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
Something that is slight is very small in degree or quantity.
Doctors say he has made a slight improvement.
We have a slight problem.
A slight smile flickered over his face.
He's not the slightest bit worried.
2. adjective
A slight person has a fairly thin and delicate looking body.
She is smaller and slighter than Christie.
...a slight, bespectacled figure.
slightlyadverb [ADVERB -ed]
...a slightly built man.
3. verb [usually passive]
If you are slighted, someone does or says something that insults you by treating you as if your views or feelings are not important.
They felt slighted by not being adequately consulted. [feelV-ed]
Synonyms: snub, insult, ignore, rebuff More Synonyms of slight
Slight is also a noun.
It isn't a slight on my husband that I enjoy my evening class. [+ on]
slightinggraded adjective
...slighting references to her age.
Synonyms: insulting, offensive, disparaging, derogatory More Synonyms of slight
4.
See in the slightest
More Synonyms of slight
slight in British English
(slaɪt)
adjective
1.
small in quantity or extent
2.
of small importance; trifling
3.
slim and delicate
4.
lacking in strength or substance
5. Southwest England dialect
ill
verb(transitive)
6.
to show indifference or disregard for (someone); snub
7.
to treat as unimportant or trifling
8. US
to devote inadequate attention to (work, duties, etc)
noun
9.
an act or omission indicating supercilious neglect or indifference
Derived forms
slightness (ˈslightness)
noun
Word origin
C13: from Old Norse slēttr smooth; related to Old High German slehtr, Gothic slaihts, Middle Dutch slecht simple
slight in American English
(slaɪt)
adjective
1.
a.
light in form or build; not stout or heavy; slender
b.
frail; fragile
2.
having little weight, strength, substance, or significance
a slight criticism
3.
small in amount or extent; not great or intense
a slight fever
verb transitive
4.
to do carelessly or poorly; neglect
5.
to treat with disrespect or indifference; be discourteous toward
6.
to treat as unimportant
noun
7.
a slighting or being slighted by pointedly indifferent, disrespectful, or supercilious treatment
SIMILAR WORDS: neˈglect
Derived forms
slightly (ˈslightly)
adverb
slightness (ˈslightness)
noun
Word origin
ME (northern dial.) sliht < OE, kin to OHG sleht, straight, smooth: for IE base see slick
Examples of 'slight' in a sentence
slight
The slight tint also perks up pale complexions.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
This is a slight and inconsequential work.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The problem is that the margin between stable and low inflation and damaging deflation is quite slight.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
We can have a slight bit of nepotism.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
They were initially critically ill but had made a slight improvement by yesterday.
The Sun (2012)
He was a slight man with a wrinkled face and a mop of grey hair.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The slight frame also suddenly appears not so slight.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Leave mixed memories in the past and turn a slight opportunity at work into a success.
The Sun (2014)
But smaller doses did mean a slight increase in the risk of disability.
The Sun (2016)
He refused the slightest bit of glory.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Naturally your partnership may decide to forget either or both the slight improvements on memory grounds!
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But he was a slight man with a stoop and a nervous disposition.
Lisa Jardine THE CURIOUS LIFE OF ROBERT HOOKE: The Man who Measured London (2003)
You could forgive the slight hyperbole.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The risk from catching Ebola from an infected person is relatively slight.
The Sun (2014)
The sliver of difference says something slight but profound about us and the French.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
For that, one forgives slight intonation lapses.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
As a gardening book, it is quite slight.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
It seems to me a terrible slight against chaotic persons, such as myself.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Miss Minchin was betrayed into something like a slight jump.
Frances Hodgson Burnett A Little Princess (1905)
Maybe I have a slight advantage there.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
People will look for the slightest advantage over their opponent,' he said.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
On the plus side, the women who had attended self-examination classes did have a slight survival advantage over those who had not.
Westcott, Patsy Alternative Health Care for Women (1991)
In other languages
slight
British English: slight /slaɪt/ ADJECTIVE
Something that is slight is very small in degree or quantity.
Doctors say he has made a slight improvement.
American English: slight
Arabic: طَفِيف
Brazilian Portuguese: leve
Chinese: 略微的
Croatian: malen
Czech: drobný
Danish: lille
Dutch: gering
European Spanish: leve
Finnish: vähäinen
French: mince
German: gering
Greek: ανεπαίσθητος
Italian: esile
Japanese: わずかな
Korean: 약간의
Norwegian: ubetydelig
Polish: niewielki
European Portuguese: leve
Romanian: mic
Russian: незначительный
Latin American Spanish: leve
Swedish: liten
Thai: เล็กน้อยมาก
Turkish: az
Ukrainian: невеликий
Vietnamese: ít mức độ
British English: slight VERB
If you are slighted, someone does or says something that insults you by treating you as if your views or feelings are not important.
They felt slighted by not being adequately consulted.
American English: slight
Brazilian Portuguese: desdenhar
Chinese: 怠慢
European Spanish: ofender
French: blesser
German: kränken
Italian: mancare di rispetto a
Japanese: 侮辱する
Korean: 무시당하다
European Portuguese: desdenhar
Latin American Spanish: ofender
All related terms of 'slight'
slight edge
If someone or something has an edge , they have an advantage that makes them stronger or more likely to be successful than another thing or person.
slight pause
A pause is a short period when you stop doing something before continuing .
slight advantage
An advantage is something that puts you in a better position than other people.
slight favourite
Your favourite thing or person of a particular type is the one you like most.
slight improvement
If there is an improvement in something, it becomes better . If you make improvements to something, you make it better.
slight variation
A variation is a change or slight difference in a level, amount, or quantity.
slight disappointment
Disappointment is the state of feeling disappointed .