Library / English Dictionary

SLIGHT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval)

Synonyms:

rebuff; slight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("slight" is a kind of...):

discourtesy; offence; offense; offensive activity (a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "slight"):

cold shoulder; cut; snub (a refusal to recognize someone you know)

silent treatment (an aloof refusal to speak to someone you know)

Derivation:

slight (pay no attention to, disrespect)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Being of delicate or slender build

Example:

watched her slight figure cross the street

Synonyms:

slender; slight; slim; svelte

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

lean; thin (lacking excess flesh)

Derivation:

slightness (the property of an attractively thin person)

slightness (smallness of stature)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with 'a') at least some

Example:

there's a slight chance it will work

Synonyms:

little; slight

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

small (slight or limited; especially in degree or intensity or scope)

Also:

less ((comparative of 'little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lacking substance or significance

Example:

a fragile claim to fame

Synonyms:

flimsy; fragile; slight; tenuous; thin

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

insignificant; unimportant (devoid of importance, meaning, or force)

Derivation:

slightness (the quality of being unimportant and petty or frivolous)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pay no attention to, disrespect

Example:

She cold-shouldered her ex-fiance

Synonyms:

cold-shoulder; slight

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "slight" is one way to...):

brush aside; brush off; discount; dismiss; disregard; ignore; push aside (bar from attention or consideration)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

slight (a deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval))

Credits

 Context examples: 

The blood-stains in the room and also on the stick are very slight.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To feel herself slighted by them was very painful.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The slight had been most determined.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence,” I remarked.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But his stomach did not give him the slightest uneasiness.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Reginald Musgrave had been in the same college as myself, and I had some slight acquaintance with him.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It may have a slight wave on its back, but the coat is otherwise straight.

(Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever, NCI Thesaurus)

A slight or incomplete paralysis of an extraocular muscle.

(Extraocular Muscle Paresis, NCI Thesaurus)

Elizabeth answered only by a slight bow.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

And hence, as I think, it came about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter and younger than Henry Jekyll.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)