Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Lacking physical depth; having little extension downward or inward: Used to describe something with little distance from its top or outer surface to its bottom or inner part.
   • Not deep or strong; not affecting one profoundly: Describes feelings, states, or actions that are superficial or lack intensity.
   • Lacking depth of intellect, emotion, or character; concerned only with what is obvious: Describes a person, idea, or argument that is superficial and not thoughtful or serious.

2. Noun:

   • A shallow area; a place where the water is not deep: A stretch of shallow water, often in a body of water like a river or sea.

3. Verb:

   • To become shallow: To decrease in depth.
   • To make shallow: To cause something to become less deep.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The children played in the shallow end of the pool. (Describing physical depth.)
  • After the accident, he was only in a shallow coma. (Describing a non-profound state.)
  • Her analysis of the novel was disappointingly shallow. (Describing a lack of intellectual depth.)

• Noun:

  • The boat ran aground in the shallows near the shore.

• Verb:

  • Over the centuries, the river mouth shallowed due to silt.
  • The construction project shallowed the natural depth of the creek.

Advanced Usage

• "shallow breathing": Breathing that is not deep, often rapid and from the chest rather than the diaphragm.

  • The doctor noted the patient's shallow breathing.

• "a shallow person": A person perceived as lacking depth of character, emotion, or intellect, often focused on superficial matters.

  • He was dismissed as a shallow person only interested in fame and money.

Variants and Related Words

• Shallowness (n): The quality or state of being shallow.

  • The shallowness of the conversation bored her.

• Shallowly (adv): In a shallow manner.

  • He was breathing shallowly.

Synonyms

• Superficial: Existing or occurring at or on the surface; not thorough or deep.
• Frivolous: Not having any serious purpose or value.
• Shoal (especially as a noun for a shallow area in water).

Antonyms

• Deep: Extending far down from the top or surface; profound or intense.
• Profound: Very great or intense; having or showing great knowledge or insight.

Phrasal Verbs / Common Collocations

• To wade into the shallows: To walk through a shallow part of a body of water.
  • We waded into the shallows to cool our feet.

Idioms and Fixed Expressions

• "Shallow end": Literally, the less deep part of a swimming pool. Figuratively, a safe or easy starting point in a new situation.

  • Start in the shallow end by learning the basic commands.

• "Shallow as a saucer": An informal simile emphasizing extreme lack of depth, typically in character or thought.

  • His excuses were as shallow as a saucer.

Adjective

1. lacking depth of intellect or knowledge; concerned only with what is obvious
   • shallow people
   • his arguments seemed shallow and tedious
2. not deep or strong; not affecting one deeply
   • shallow breathing
   • a night of shallow fretful sleep
   • in a shallow trance
3. lacking physical depth; having little spatial extension downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or outward from a center
   • shallow water
   • a shallow dish
   • a shallow cut
   • a shallow closet
   • established a shallow beachhead
   • hit the ball to shallow left field

Noun

1. a stretch of shallow water

Verb

1. become shallow
   • the lake shallowed over time
2. make shallow
   • The silt shallowed the canal