Wiktionary

slim

See also: Slim, SLiM, slím, and šlím

English

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Etymology

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Borrowing from Low German or Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”), from Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”), from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-West Germanic *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”). The sense development would have been "slanting, cunning" (Dutch) > "insignificant, slight" and then "thin, graceful" in English, a shift that Liberman calls an "incredible amelioration" of word meaning.[1]

The pejorative sense found in Low German and Dutch is also found preserved in the archaic English noun slim (“worthless or lazy person”), also comparable to the South African use of the adjective as "crafty, sly."[2]

Compare Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”), Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”), German schlimm (“bad”), West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /slɪm/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪm

Adjective

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slim (comparative slimmer, superlative slimmest)

  1. Slender, thin.
    1. (of a person or a person's build) Slender in an attractive way.
      Movie stars are usually slim, attractive, and young.
    2. (by extension, of clothing) Designed to make the wearer appear slim.
    3. (of an object) Long and narrow.
    4. (of a workforce) Of a reduced size, with the intent of being more efficient.
  2. (of something abstract like a chance or margin) Very small, tiny.
    I'm afraid your chances are quite slim.
    • 2011 January 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Man City 4 - 3 Wolves”, in BBC‎[1]:
      Wolves' debatable third in the last 10 minutes, with the ball only crossing the line by the slimmest of margins if at all, ensured a cracking finale, although City would have been left aggrieved had they let the win slip.
  3. (rustic, Northern England, Scotland) Bad, of questionable quality; not strongly built, flimsy.
    A slimly-shod lad;
    a slimly-made cart.
  4. (South Africa, obsolete in UK) Sly, crafty.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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Noun

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slim (plural slims)

  1. A type of cigarette substantially longer and thinner than normal cigarettes.
    I only smoke slims.
  2. (Ireland, regional) A potato farl.
  3. (East Africa, uncountable) AIDS, or the chronic wasting associated with its later stages.
    • 2003, Charled F. Gilks, “HIV in the Developing World”, in David A. Warrell et al., editors, Oxford Textbook of Medicine‎[2], 4th edition, volume 1, →ISBN, page 446:
      As in the West, only about 50 per cent of patients with slim fully investigated will have a putative pathogen identified.
  4. (slang, uncountable) Cocaine.

Alternative forms

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Verb

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slim (third-person singular simple present slims, present participle slimming, simple past and past participle slimmed)

  1. (intransitive) To lose weight in order to achieve slimness.
  2. (transitive) To make slimmer; to reduce in size.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Liberman, A. (2009). Word Origins...And How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA, p. 200
  2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Anagrams

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Danish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse slím (“slime”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /sliːm/, [sliːˀm]

Noun

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slim c or n (singular definite slimen or slimet, uncountable)

  1. slime
  2. mucus

Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch slim, slem, slimp, slemp, from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”), compare German schlimm (“bad”), English slim. The semantic development in Dutch was “physically crooked” → “morally crooked” → “sly, artful” → “clever, intelligent”.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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slim (comparative slimmer, superlative slimst)

  1. intelligent, bright
  2. clever, smart
  3. (now dialectal, Eastern Dutch) wrong, incorrect, bad

Inflection

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Declension of slim
uninflected slim
inflected slimme
comparative slimmer
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial slim slimmer het slimst
het slimste
indefinite m./f. sing. slimme slimmere slimste
n. sing. slim slimmer slimste
plural slimme slimmere slimste
definite slimme slimmere slimste
partitive slims slimmers —

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Berbice Creole Dutch: slem
  • Negerhollands: slim, slem
  • Skepi Creole Dutch: slam
  • → Papiamentu: slim (dated)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From Old Norse slím.

Noun

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slim n (definite singular slimet, uncountable)

  1. mucus, phlegm
  2. slime

Derived terms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Old Norse slím.

Noun

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slim n (definite singular slimet, uncountable)

  1. mucus, phlegm
  2. slime

Derived terms

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References

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Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *slīmą, from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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slīm ?

  1. slime

Descendants

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Romanian

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Noun

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slim n (plural slimuri)

  1. Alternative form of slin

Declension

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Declension of slim
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) slim slimul (niște) slimuri slimurile
genitive/dative (unui) slim slimului (unor) slimuri slimurilor
vocative slimule slimurilor

West Frisian

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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slim

  1. bad
  2. dire
  3. difficult

Inflection

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Inflection of slim
uninflected slim
inflected slimme
comparative slimmer
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial slim slimmer it slimst
it slimste
indefinite c. sing. slimme slimmere slimste
n. sing. slim slimmer slimste
plural slimme slimmere slimste
definite slimme slimmere slimste
partitive slims slimmers —

Further reading

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  • “slim (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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