slight

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

slight, n. 

 Sleight.  Spenser.  [1913 Webster]

slight, v. t. [Cf. D. slechten to level, to demolish.].

•  To overthrow; to demolish.  Clarendon.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make even or level.  Hexham.  [1913 Webster]
•  To throw heedlessly.  [1913 Webster]

  "The rogue slighted me into the river."  [1913 Webster]

slight, a. [OE. slit, sleght, probably from OD. slicht, slecht, simple, plain, D. slecht; akin to OFries. sliucht, G. schlecht, schlicht, OHG. sleht smooth, simple, Icel. slttr smooth, Sw. slät, Goth. slaíhts; or uncertain origin.].

•  Not decidedly marked; not forcible; inconsiderable; unimportant; insignificant; not severe; weak; gentle; -- applied in a great variety of circumstances; as, a slight (i. e., feeble) effort; a slight (i. e., perishable) structure; a slight (i. e., not deep) impression; a slight (i. e., not convincing) argument; a slight (i. e., not thorough) examination; slight (i. e., not severe) pain, and the like.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

  "Slight is the subject, but not so the praise."  [1913 Webster]

  "Some firmly embrace doctrines upon slight grounds."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not stout or heavy; slender.  [1913 Webster]

  "His own figure, which was formerly so slight."  [1913 Webster]
•  Foolish; silly; weak in intellect.  Hudibras.  [1913 Webster]

slight, v. t. 

 To disregard, as of little value and unworthy of notice; to make light of; as, to slight the divine commands.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
"The wretch who slights the bounty of the skies."  [1913 Webster]
"Beware . . . lest the like befall . . .
If they transgress and slight that sole command."  [1913 Webster]
"This my long-sufferance, and my day of grace,
Those who neglect and scorn shall never taste."  [1913 Webster]

To slight off, to treat slightingly; to drive off; to remove. [R.] -- To slight over, to run over in haste; to perform superficially; to treat carelessly; as, to slight over a theme. “They will but slight it over.” Bacon.

Syn. -- To neglect; disregard; disdain; scorn.

slight, n. 

 The act of slighting; the manifestation of a moderate degree of contempt, as by neglect or oversight; neglect; indignity.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Neglect; disregard; inattention; contempt; disdain; scorn; disgrace; indignity; disparagement.

slight, adv. 

 Slightly.  [1913 Webster]
"Think not so slight of glory."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

slight, adj., v., & n.
--adj.
1 a inconsiderable; of little significance (has a slight cold; the damage is very slight). b barely perceptible (a slight smell of gas). c not much or great or thorough, inadequate, scanty (a conclusion based on very slight observation; paid him slight attention).
2 slender, frail-looking (saw a slight figure approaching; supported by a slight framework).
3 (in superl., with neg. or interrog.) any whatever (paid not the slightest attention).
--v.tr.
1 treat or speak of (a person etc.) as not worth attention, fail in courtesy or respect towards, markedly neglect.
2 hist. make militarily useless, raze (a fortification etc.).
--n. a marked piece of neglect, a failure to show due respect.

Idiom

not in the slightest not at all. put a slight upon = sense
1 of v.

Derivative

slightingly adv. slightish adj. slightly adv. slightness n.

Etymology

ME slyght, sleght f. ON sl{eacute}ttr level, smooth f. Gmc

THESAURUS

slight

Lenten, Spartan, abstemious, adulterated, affront, airy, ankle-deep, ascetic, asinine, attenuate, attenuated, austere, bantam, be blind to, be caught out, be inattentive, be unwary, belittle, blink, blink at, boyish, breakable, bring down, bring into discredit, bring low, brittle, carefully ignore, catchpenny, cheap-jack, cobwebby, cold shoulder, cold-shoulder, coldness, connive at, contemn, cramped, crumbly, cry down, culpa, culpable negligence, cursory, cut, cut a corner, cut corners, cut dead, cut direct, dainty, debase, decry, default, degrade, delicate, delicately weak, delinquency, depreciate, depthless, dereliction, deride, derogate from, despise, detract from, diaphanous, dilute, diluted, diminish, diminutive, dinky, disapprove of, disconformity, discount, discredit, disdain, disgrace, dismiss, disparage, disregard, disrespect, dodge, dwarfed, dwarfish, effeminate, empty, epidermal, ethereal, exiguous, fail, failure, fat, fatuous, feeble, fine, fine-drawn, finespun, flimsy, flout, foolish, forget, fragile, frail, frangible, fribble, fribbling, frivolous, frothy, frugal, fudge, futile, gaseous, gauzy, gimcrack, gimcracky, girlish, give no heed, give the go-by, gossamer, gossamery, gracile, half-pint, hear nothing, hold in contempt, hold in derision, humiliation, idle, ignore, ill-treatment, impoverished, inadequate, inadvertence, inadvertency, inane, inattention, inconsequential, indifference, indignity, infinitesimal, inobservance, insecure, insignificant, insubstantial, insult, jejune, jerry, jerry-built, knee-deep, knee-high, knock, laches, lacy, laissez-faire, lapse, laugh at, laugh to scorn, laxity, laxness, lean, let pass, light, lightweight, limited, little, look right through, looseness, make light of, make little of, meager, mean, miniature, minimize, minor, minute, miserly, miss, misty, mortify, namby-pamby, narrow, neglect, neglectfulness, negligence, negligible, niggardly, nonadherence, noncompliance, nonconformance, nonconformity, nonfeasance, nonfulfillment, noninterference, nonobservance, nonperformance, nonrestriction, not attend, not deep, not heed, not listen, not notice, nugacious, off, offend, omission, omit, on the surface, one-horse, otiose, outrage, outside, overlook, overlooking, overpass, oversight, paltry, papery, parsimonious, pass by, pass over, pass over lightly, pass up, pasteboardy, pay no attention, pay no mind, perceptible, permissiveness, petite, piddling, pindling, pint-sized, pocket, pocket-sized, poky, pooh-pooh, poor, poor stewardship, precarious, procrastination, puny, put down, rare, rarefied, rebuff, reedy, reflect discredit upon, refuse to acknowledge, refuse to recognize, remissness, repulse, rickety, run down, scamp, scant, scanty, scoff, scoff at, scorn, scout, scrawny, scrimp, scrimpy, see nothing, set at defiance, shallow, shallow-rooted, shattery, shoal, short, silly, sissified, skim, skim over, skim the surface, skimp, skimpy, skin-deep, skip, skip over, slackness, sleazy, slender, slenderish, slight over, slight-made, slim, slimmish, slinky, slubber over, slur, slur over, small, smallish, sneer, sniff, snort, snub, spare, sparing, speak ill of, spurn, spurning, starvation, stingy, stinted, straitened, stunted, submit to indignity, subsistence, subtile, subtle, superficial, surface, svelte, sylphlike, tacky, tenuous, the cold shoulder, the go-by, thin, thin-bodied, thin-set, thin-spun, think little of, thinned, thinned-out, thinnish, threadlike, tiny, touch upon, touch upon lightly, trace, treat with contempt, trifling, trite, trivial, twiggy, two-by-four, uncompact, uncompressed, unlikely, unnourishing, unnutritious, unobservance, unprofound, unrigorousness, unstable, unsubstantial, vacuous, vague, vain, vapid, vaporous, vest-pocket, wasp-waisted, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, wee, willowy, windy, wink at, wiredrawn, wispy, womanish

ROGET THESAURUS

slight

Feebleness

N feebleness, feeble, bald, tame, meager, jejune, vapid, bland, trashy, lukewarm, cold, frigid, poor, dull, dry, languid, colorless, enervated, proposing, prosy, prosaic, unvaried, monotonous, weak, washy, wishy- washy, sketchy, slight, careless, slovenly, loose, lax (negligent), slipshod, slipslop, inexact, puerile, childish, flatulent, rambling.

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Shallowness

N shallowness, shoals, mere scratch, shallow, slight, superficial, skin deep, ankle deep, knee deep, just enough to wet one's feet, shoal, shoaly.

Dereliction of Duty

VB violate, break, break through, infringe, set aside, set at naught, encroach upon, trench upon, trample on, trample under foot, slight, neglect, evade, renounce, forswear, repudiate, wash one's hands of, escape, transgress, fail, call to account.

Disrespect

N disrespect, disesteem, disestimation, disparagement irreverence, slight, neglect, spretae injuria formae, superciliousness, vilipendency, vilification, contumely, affront, dishonor, insult, indignity, outrage, discourtesy, practical joking, scurrility, scoffing, sibilance, hissing, sibilation, irrision, derision, mockery, irony, sarcasm, hiss, hoot, boo, gibe, flout, jeer, scoff, gleek, taunt, sneer, quip, fling, wipe, slap in the face, disrespectful, aweless, irreverent, disparaging, insulting, supercilious, contemptuous, patronizing, rude, derisive, sarcastic, scurrile, scurrilous, contumelious, unrespected, unworshiped, unenvied, unsaluted, unregarded, disregarded, disrespectfully.

VB hold in disrespect, misprize, disregard, slight, trifle with, set at naught, pass by, push aside, overlook, turn one's back upon, laugh in one's sleeve, be disrespectful, be discourteous, treat with disrespect, set down, put down, browbeat, dishonor, desecrate, insult, affront, outrage, speak slightingly of, disparage, vilipend, vilify, call names, throw dirt, fling dirt, drag through the mud, point at, indulge in personalities, make mouths, make faces, bite the thumb, take by the beard, pluck by the beard, toss in a blanket, tar and feather, have in derision, hold in derision, deride, scoff, barrack, sneer, laugh at, snigger, ridicule, gibe, mock, jeer, hiss, hoot, taunt, twit, niggle, gleek, gird, flout, fleer, roast, turn into ridicule, burlesque, laugh to scorn, smoke, fool, make game of, make a fool of, make an April fool of, play a practical joke, lead one a dance, run the rig upon, have a fling at, scout, mob.

Contempt

N contempt, disdain, scorn, sovereign contempt, despisal, despiciency, despisement, vilipendency, contumely, slight, sneer, spurn, by-word, despect, contemptuousness, scornful eye, smile of contempt, derision, despisedness, contemptuous, disdainful, scornful, withering, contumelious, supercilious, cynical, haughty, bumptious, cavalier, derisive, contemptible, despicable, pitiable, pitiful, despised, downtrodden, unenvied, unrespectable (unworthy), contemptuously, Int, a fig for, bah!, never mind!, away with!, hang it!, fiddlededee!, a dismal universal hiss, the sound of public scorn, I had rather be a dog and bay the moon than such a.

VB despise, contemn, scorn, disdain, feel contempt for, view with a scornful eye, disregard, slight, not mind, pass by, look down upon, hold cheap, hold in contempt, hold in disrespect, think nothing of, think small beer of, make light of, underestimate, esteem slightly, esteem of small or no account, take no account of, care nothing for, set no store by, not care a straw, sneeze at, set at naught, laugh in one's sleeve, laugh up one's sleeve, snap one's fingers at, shrug one's shoulders, turn up one's nose at, pooh-pooh, damn with faint praise, whistle at, sneer at, curl up one's lip, toss the head, traiter de haut enbas, laugh at, point the finger of scorn, hold up to scorn, laugh to scorn, scout, hoot, flout, hiss, scoff at, turn one's back upon, turn a cold shoulder upon, tread upon, trample upon, trample under foot, spurn, kick, fling to the winds, send away with a flea in the ear.

Rarity

N rarity, tenuity, absence of solidity, subtility, subtilty, subtlety, sponginess, compressibility, rarefaction, expansion, dilatation, inflation, subtilization, vaporization, evaporation, diffusion, gassification, ether, rare, subtile, thin, fine, tenuous, compressible, flimsy, slight, light, cavernous, spongy, rarefied, unsubstantial, uncompact, incompressed, rarefiable.

Neglect

VB be negligent, take no care of &c (take care of), neglect, let slip, let go, lay aside, set aside, cst aside, put aside, keep out of sight, put out of sight, lose sight of, overlook, disregard, pass over, pas by, let pass, blink, wink at, connive at, gloss over, take no note of, take no thought of, take no account of, take no notice of, pay no regard to, laisser aller, scamp, trifle, fribble, do by halves, cut, slight, play with, trifle with, slur, skim, skim the surface, effleurer, take a cursory view of, slur over, skip over, jump over, slip over, pretermit, miss, skip, jump, omit, give the go-by to, push aside, pigeonhole, shelve, sink, table, ignore, shut one's eyes to, refuse to hear, turn a deaf ear to, leave out of one's calculation, not attend to, not mind, not trouble oneself about, not trouble one's head about, not trouble oneself with, forget, be caught napping, leave a loose thread, let the grass grow under one's feet, render neglectful, put off one's guard, throw off one's guard, distract, divert.

Underestimation

VB underrate, underestimate, undervalue, underreckon, depreciate, disparage, not do justice to, misprize, disprize, ridicule, slight, neglect, slur over, make light of, make little of, make nothing of, make no account of, belittle, minimize, think nothing of, set no store by, set at naught, shake off as dewdrops from the lion's mane.