EnglishLearner.com
  • Dictionary
  • List of exercises
  • Exercises by level
    • Beginner exercises
    • Intermediate exercises
    • Advanced exercises
  • Dictionary
  • List of exercises
  • Exercises by level+
    • Beginner exercises
    • Intermediate exercises
    • Advanced exercises

Meaning of thin in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Definitions
  3. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions
  4. Adverb
    1. Definitions
  5. Qualitative Adjective
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions
  1. Pronunciation

    /θɪn/

    US accent Play buttonYour browser does not support the audio element.

    How to pronounce thin in American English, in context ▾
    Use the controls below Controls button to browse different examples of pronunciation.

    UK accent Play buttonYour browser does not support the audio element.

    How to pronounce thin in British English, in context ▾
    Use the controls below Controls button to browse different examples of pronunciation.
  1. Verb

    thin

    Definitions

    1. lose thickness

    Examples

    • « become thin or thinner »

    Antonyms

    • thicken
    • inspissate
  2. 2. make thin or thinner

    Examples

    • « Thin the solution »

    Antonyms

    • thicken
    • inspissate

    Derived terms

    • diluent
    • dilutant
    • thinner
  3. 3. lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture

    Examples

    • « cut bourbon »

    Derived terms

    • cutting
    • diluent
    • dilutant
    • dilution
    • thinner
    • thinning
  4. 4. take off weight

    Antonyms

    • gain
    • put on

    Derived terms

    • reducing
  5. Classifying Adjective

    thin

    Definitions

    1. very narrow

    Examples

    • « a thin line across the page »

    Synonyms

    • narrow
  6. 2. having little substance or significance

    Examples

    • « a flimsy excuse »
    • « slight evidence »
    • « a tenuous argument »
    • « a thin plot »

    Synonyms

    • weak
  7. 3. not dense

    Examples

    • « a thin beard »
    • « trees were sparse »

    Synonyms

    • distributed
  8. 4. lacking spirit or sincere effort

    Examples

    • « a thin smile »

    Synonyms

    • spiritless
  9. Adverb

    thin

    Definitions

    1. without viscosity

    Examples

    • « the blood was flowing thin »

    Antonyms

    • thickly
    • thick
  10. Qualitative Adjective

    thin

    Etymology

    Old English thynne, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dun and German dünn, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin tenuis

    Definitions

    1. of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section

    Examples

    • « thin wire »
    • « a thin chiffon blouse »
    • « a thin book »
    • « a thin layer of paint »

    Synonyms

    • bladed
    • capillary
    • hairlike
    • compressed
    • flat
    • depressed
    • diaphanous
    • filmy
    • gauzy
    • gossamer
    • see-through
    • sheer
    • transparent
    • vaporous
    • cobwebby
    • filamentous
    • filiform
    • filamentlike
    • threadlike
    • thready
    • fine
    • flimsy
    • light
    • hyperfine
    • paper thin
    • papery
    • sleazy
    • slender
    • tenuous
    • wafer-thin
    • chiffon
    • ribbonlike
    • ribbony

    Antonyms

    • thick
  11. 2. lacking excess flesh

    Examples

    • « you can't be too rich or too thin »
    • « Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look-Shakespeare »

    Synonyms

    • anorexic
    • anorectic
    • bony
    • cadaverous
    • emaciated
    • gaunt
    • haggard
    • pinched
    • skeletal
    • wasted
    • deep-eyed
    • hollow-eyed
    • sunken-eyed
    • fine-drawn
    • gangling
    • gangly
    • lanky
    • lank
    • spindly
    • rawboned
    • reedy
    • reedlike
    • twiggy
    • twiglike
    • scarecrowish
    • scraggy
    • scrawny
    • skinny
    • underweight
    • weedy
    • shriveled
    • shrivelled
    • shrunken
    • withered
    • wizen
    • wizened
    • slender
    • slight
    • slim
    • slender-waisted
    • slim-waisted
    • wasp-waisted
    • spare
    • trim
    • spindle-legged
    • spindle-shanked
    • stringy
    • wiry
    • wisplike
    • wispy

    Antonyms

    • fat
  12. 3. relatively thin in consistency or low in density

    Examples

    • « not viscous »
    • « air is thin at high altitudes »
    • « a thin soup »
    • « skimmed milk is much thinner than whole milk »
    • « thin oil »

    Synonyms

    • tenuous
    • rare
    • rarefied
    • rarified

    Antonyms

    • thick
  13. 4. (of sound) lacking resonance or volume

    Examples

    • « a thin feeble cry »

    Synonyms

    • pale

    Antonyms

    • full

Famous quotes

  • « Beauty is only skin deep, and the world is full of thin skinned people. »
    Richard Armour
  • « I've just got crap hair. Although I inherited a lot of stuff from my dad, including giant knees, I didn't get his good, thick hair. I got my mother's thin, wispy, non-event hair instead. »
    Jenny Eclair
  • « Mmmm... the comedy that matters is the comedy you pull out of thin air. It's a bit like when something funny has happened and you try to explain it to someone else and end up saying, 'You had to be there.' »
    Jack Dee
  • « Last year I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. I was over 50, Caucasian, thin, small-framed, and I have it in my genetic history. It was almost a slam-dunk. »
    Sally Field
  • « Americans like fat books and thin women. »
    Russell Baker

Browse dictionary

  • thimerosal
  • thimbleweed
  • thimblerig
  • thimbleful
  • thin
  • thin-leaved bilberry
  • thin-leaved stringybark
  • thin-shelled mussel
  • thin-skinned
Copyright © EnglishLearner.com 1998-2021