Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Thin and graceful in build: Describes a person or object that is attractively thin, often implying gracefulness and delicacy.
   • Small in amount or degree: Indicates something that is limited, meager, or barely sufficient.
   • Narrow in width: Describes something long and thin in proportion to its length or height.

Examples of Usage

• Describing a person's build:
  • She has a slender figure.
  • The dancer was tall and slender.
• Describing a small amount or chance:
  • They survived on a slender income.
  • There is only a slender possibility of success.
• Describing a narrow shape:
  • The tower was a slender spire against the sky.
  • He wrote with a slender line of ink.

Advanced Usage

• "Slender means": having very little money or resources.
  • The family lived on slender means, but they were happy.
• "Slender evidence": evidence that is minimal or not very strong.
  • The case was dismissed due to slender evidence.
• "Slender thread": a metaphor for something very fragile or tenuous.
  • His life hung by a slender thread after the accident.

Variants and Related Words

• Slenderly (adverb): in a slender manner.
  • The column rose slenderly to the ceiling.
• Slenderness (noun): the quality or state of being slender.
  • The slenderness of the model was often discussed.

Synonyms

• Slim: Thin in an attractive way (often interchangeable with 'slender' for build).
• Slight: Small and thin in build; also can mean small in degree.
• Thin: Having little flesh or fat; of small diameter.
• Narrow: Of small width.
• Meager: Deficient in quantity or quality.

Antonyms

• Stout: Rather fat or heavy build.
• Plump: Having a full, rounded shape.
• Abundant: Existing or available in large quantities.
• Wide: Of great or more than average width.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• A slender reed: A person or thing that is too weak to provide reliable support.
  • You're leaning on a slender reed if you trust him with such an important secret.
• To have a slender hold on something: To have a very weak or tenuous understanding or control.
  • He only has a slender hold on the concepts being taught.

Adjective

1. moving and bending with ease
2. small in quantity
   • slender wages
   • a slim chance of winning
   • a small surplus
3. having little width in proportion to the length or height
   • a slender pole
4. very narrow
   • a thin line across the page
5. being of delicate or slender build
   • she was slender as a willow shoot is slender- Frank Norris
   • a slim girl with straight blonde hair
   • watched her slight figure cross the street