Definition

1. Noun:
   • The quality of lacking physical depth: The state or condition of having little distance from the top or surface to the bottom.
   • Lack of depth of knowledge, thought, or feeling: The quality of not being serious, profound, or intellectually or emotionally deep; superficiality.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Physical Depth):

  • The shallowness of the water made it safe for the children to wade.
  • The engineer warned about the shallowness of the foundation.

• Noun (Intellectual/Emotional Depth):

  • The critic dismissed the novel for its intellectual shallowness.
  • His apology was met with skepticism due to the perceived shallowness of his remorse.

Advanced Usage

• "to betray a certain shallowness": to reveal a lack of depth in one's character or understanding.
  • His glib remarks about the complex issue betrayed a certain shallowness.

Variants and Related Words

• Shallow (adj): Not deep; lacking depth.

  • The river is shallow here.
  • He has a shallow understanding of philosophy.

• Shallowly (adv): In a shallow manner.

  • He breathed shallowly after the run.

Synonyms

• Superficiality: Concern with only the obvious or apparent; lack of thoroughness or depth.
• Frivolity: Lack of seriousness; lightheartedness, often suggesting unimportance.
• Triviality: The quality of being of little importance or significance.

Antonyms

• Depth: Intellectual or emotional profundity; the quality of being deep.
• Profundity: Great depth of insight or knowledge.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "A mile wide and an inch deep": An idiom describing something or someone that has broad but very shallow knowledge or appeal.
  • His knowledge of history is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Noun

1. the quality of lacking physical depth
   • take into account the shallowness at that end of the pool before you dive
2. lack of depth of knowledge or thought or feeling