slim

See also: Slim, SLiM, slím, and šlím

English

Etymology

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.

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."

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slɪm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪm

Adjective

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

• (slender in an attractive way.): lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender
• (clothing):
• (long and narrow): fine, stalky, sticklike, thin, virgate
• (reduced workforce):
• (tiny; of something abstract): infinitesimal, marginal; see also Thesaurus:tiny
• (of questionable quality): flimsy, lousy, shoddy; see also Thesaurus:low-quality
• (crafty): cunning, frood; see also Thesaurus:wily

Derived terms

• slim client
• slim-fit
• slim jim
• slim pickings
• slim-thick
• slimwood (Fouquieria splendens)

 

Translations

slender

• Arabic: نَحِيل (naḥīl), نَحِيف (naḥīf), أَهْيَف (ʔahyaf)
• Azerbaijani: incə (az)
• Bashkir: ябыҡ (yabıq)
• Belarusian: худы́ (xudý), стро́йны (strójny), стро́мкі (strómki)
• Bulgarian: тъ́нък (bg) (tǎ́nǎk), стро́ен (bg) (stróen)
• Catalan: prim (ca)
• Cherokee: ᎤᎴᏐᏓ (ulesoda)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 苗條／苗条 (zh) (miáotiáo), 纖細／纤细 (zh) (xiānxì)

• Czech: štíhlý (cs)
• Danish: slank (da), tynd (da)
• Dutch: slank (nl), dun (nl)
• Finnish: hoikka (fi), laiha (fi)
• French: mince (fr), svelte (fr)
• German: schlank (de), schmal (de), dünn (de)
• Greek: λεπτός (el) (leptós), ραδινός (el) (radinós)

  Aeolic: βράδινος (brádinos)

  Ancient: ῥαδινός (rhadinós)

• Hindi: पतला (hi) (patlā)
• Hungarian: karcsú (hu), vékony (hu)
• Ido: dina (io)
• Indonesian: langsing (id), ramping (id)
• Irish: caol, tanaí, seang
• Italian: snello (it), magro (it), affusolato (it)
• Japanese: ほっそりした (ja) (hossori shita), 細い (ja) (ほそい, hosoi), スリムな (ja) (surimu na)
• Korean: 날씬하다 (ko) (nalssinhada)
• Latin: gracilis
• Latvian: slaids, tievs, smuidrs
• Macedonian: слаб (slab), тенок (tenok), виток (vitok)
• Neapolitan: magro
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: slank, tynn (no)

• Ottoman Turkish: ضعیف (zaʼif)
• Plautdietsch: schlank, denn
• Polish: szczupły (pl), smukły (pl)
• Portuguese: magro (pt), esbelto (pt), esguio (pt), delgado (pt)
• Romanian: zvelt (ro), subțire (ro)
• Russian: стро́йный (ru) (strójnyj), худо́й (ru) (xudój)
• Scottish Gaelic: caol, seang
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ви̏так, мр̏шав

  Roman: vȉtak (sh), mȑšav (sh)

• Slovak: štíhly
• Slovene: vitek
• Spanish: flaco (es), delgado (es)
• Swedish: slank (sv), tunn (sv)
• Ukrainian: худи́й (xudýj), струнки́й (strunkýj), стрімки́й (strimkýj)
• Urdu: پتلا (patlā)
• Vietnamese: mảnh khảnh (vi)
• Volapük: lunedik (vo)
• Welsh: main (cy)
• Zazaki: barı (diq) m, bari (diq) f

References

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Noun

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

• (AIDS): Slim

Verb

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

• slim down

Translations

lose weight

• Dutch: vermageren (nl), lijnen (nl), aan de lijn doen, afslanken (nl), diëten (nl)
• Finnish: laihduttaa (fi) (tr.), laihtua (fi) (intr.)
• French: maigrir (fr), mincir (fr)
• Greek: αδυνατίζω (el) (adynatízo)
• Ido: dineskar (io)
• Italian: dimagrire (it)
• Macedonian: слабее (slabee)
• Portuguese: emagrecer (pt)
• Russian: похудеть (ru) pf (poxudetʹ)
• Spanish: adelgazarse (es), enflaquecer (es), enflaquecerse (es), enflacar (es)
• Telugu: సన్నబడు (sannabaḍu)

Anagrams

• misl, lims, MLIS, MILs, MSIL, SMIL, mils

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse slím (“slime”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sliːm/, [sliːˀm]

Noun

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

1. slime
2. mucus

Dutch

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /slɪm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: slim
• Rhymes: -ɪm

Adjective

slim (comparative slimmer, superlative slimst)

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

Declension

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

• intelligent
• scherpzinnig
• schrander
• sluw
• gewiekst
• listig

Derived terms

• slimheid
• slimmerd
• slimmerik
• slimmigheid
• slimpie

 

Descendants

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse slím.

Noun

slim n (definite singular slimet, uncountable)

1. mucus, phlegm
2. slime

Derived terms

• slimhinne

References

• “slim” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “slim_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse slím.

Noun

slim n (definite singular slimet, uncountable)

1. mucus, phlegm
2. slime

Derived terms

• slimhinne

References

• “slim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sliːm/

Noun

slīm n or m

1. slime

Declension

If Neuter:

Declension of slīm (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	slīm	slīm
accusative	slīm	slīm
genitive	slīmes	slīma
dative	slīme	slīmum

If Masculine:

Declension of slīm (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	slīm	slīmas
accusative	slīm	slīmas
genitive	slīmes	slīma
dative	slīme	slīmum

Descendants

• English: slime

Romanian

Noun

slim n (plural slimuri)

1. Alternative form of slin

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	slim	slimul		slimuri	slimurile
genitive-dative	slim	slimului		slimuri	slimurilor
vocative	slimule			slimurilor

West Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slɪm/

Adjective

slim

1. bad
2. dire
3. difficult

Inflection

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

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