I. ˈthin adjective
( thinner ; thinnest )
Etymology: Middle English thinne, from Old English thynne; akin to Old High German dunni thin, Old Norse thunnr, Latin tenuis thin, Greek tany- long, stretched out, Sanskrit tanu thin, Old English thennan to stretch out, Old High German dennen to stretch, Old Norse thenja, Gothic uf thanjan, Latin tendere to stretch, tenēre to hold, Greek teinein to stretch, Sanskrit tanoti he stretches
1.
a. : having little extent from one surface to its opposite
thin paper
thin layer of paint
thin slice of meat
thin coin
b. : measuring little in cross section or diameter
thin rope
thin rod
2. : not dense in arrangement or distribution : not compactly set or disposed
thin stand of trees
a thin rain was falling
his hair was thin and lank
3. : not well fleshed : not filled out : not plump or fat : spare , lean , skinny
thin lips
long thin figure
4.
a. : more fluid or rarefied than usual, normal, or average
thin syrup
thin batter
thin air of the high mountains
b. : having less than the usual number of persons
thin congregation
thin attendance at a meeting
c. : few in number : not abundant : scarce
d. : scantily occupied, supplied, or provided
thin assortment of goods on the counter
thin ranks of volunteers
e. of a market : characterized by a paucity of bids or offerings so that transactions tend to be few and difficult to effect
5.
a. : a wanting substance, strength, or richness from lack of a usual constituent : weak , unsatisfying
thin broth
thin wine
thin diet
b. of soil : poor , infertile
6.
a. : lacking in solidity, substance, or force : unsubstantial , inadequate
novel with a thin plot
b. : unbelievable , unconvincing
thin excuse
c. : not up to expectations : disappointingly poor or hard
have a thin time of it
7.
a. of a voice : wanting in fullness and resonance : somewhat feeble and shrill
nearly soundless laughter thin as a bat's cry — Elinor Wylie
b. of harmony : lacking richness of texture
c. of reproduced sound
(1) : having prominent treble and weak bass tones
(2) : having a narrow range of overtones
d. of a speech sound : front 2
8.
a. of light : wanting in radiance
thin winter sunshine
b. of a color : lacking in intensity or brilliance : dull
9.
a. : easily seen through or penetrated : transparent , flimsy
thin pretext
thin disguise
b. : ready to snap or give way
his patience was wearing thin
10. of a photographic negative or print : lacking sufficient density or contrast
overexposure produces thin images — E.F.Brewer
Synonyms:
thin , slender , slim , slight , tenuous , and rare can mean, in common, not broad, thick, abundant, or dense. thin implies comparatively little extension between two surfaces
a thin board
a thin layer of frosting
or a comparatively small diameter of a cylindrical or roughly cylindrical object in proportion to its length
a thin pole
a thin wire
and it implies also a comparative lack of flesh or substance giving a thing fullness, richness, or density
a thin face
a thin soup
thin hair
a play that is pretty thin in plot
slender chiefly implies leanness or spareness without suggesting gauntness or lankiness, usually connoting gracefulness and good proportions
slender hands
a slender figure
and is similar to thin though implying, not strongly, a meagerness or scantiness
slender success in an enterprise
slender advice
a slender chance of success
slim is much like slender when applied to persons or animals, though suggesting more fragility, gauntness, or lack of flesh than grace or good proportion
very slim children
and it is like slender in extended meaning, though stressing meagerness and scantiness more strongly
a slim chance of recovery
a slim pay envelope
slight stresses smallness rather than thinness, seldom suggesting height or length as do slender and, sometimes, slim
a slight woman of very small frame
and in application to things, it is often derogatory, applying to what is inappreciable or inadequate
a slight difference in age between two men
a very slight imaginative quality in a book
a slight compensation for great effort
tenuous implies extreme thinness
a tenuous thread
the tenuous filament of a spider's web
or sheerness
a tenuous and almost fully transparent fabric
and its most common extended use implies an extreme lack of density, solidity, or substance
tenuous mists along the road
a mind given to tenuous ideas
a tenuous grasp of a difficult subject
rare is applied chiefly to air or gases and implies tenuousness or lack of density
the extremely rare atmosphere of the stratosphere
•
- into thin air
- on thin ice
- out of thin air
II. adverb
( thinner ; thinnest )
Etymology: Middle English thinne, from thinne, adjective, thin
: thinly — used especially in combinations
thin -clad
thin -flowing
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English thinne, from thinne, adjective, thin
: a thin part : something thin or thinner
sandpipers running in the thin of the tide — F.M.Ford
letters embodying sharply contrasted thicks and thins — Stanley Morison
IV. verb
( thinned ; thinned ; thinning ; thins )
Etymology: Middle English thinnen, from Old English thynnian; akin to Old Norse thynna to thin; causative from the root of English thin (I)
transitive verb
: to make thin or thinner:
a. : to reduce in thickness or depth : attenuate
b. : to make less dense or viscous : make more fluid : rarefy
thin glue with alcohol
c. : to make less strong or less rich : make weak : cause to lose vigor, force, or effectiveness : dilute
thin wine with water
the ballad, with its old religious, military, or tragic contents, was thinned out into the sentimental popular song — Lewis Mumford
d. : to make lean or slender : cause to lose flesh
thinned by weeks of privation
e. : to make less crowded or less populated — used often with out
f. : to remove surplus plants or trees from (a bed, nursery, woodland) so as to improve the growth of the rest ; also : to take out (as superfluous buds or shoots) : prune
g. : to reduce the bulk of (hair) by spaced cutting with specially notched shears
intransitive verb
1. : to grow or become thin or thinner : become less thick, dense, or crowded
his hair is thinning
— used often with down or out or off
the limestone layer thinned out and soon came to an end
toward the city limits the houses began to thin out
the stream had thinned down to a mere trickle
2. : to become weak, ineffective, or less urgent
this desire thins out — M.L.Anshen
Synonyms:
attenuate , extenuate , dilute , rarefy : thin is a general term indicating reduction in thickness, density, weight, intensity, strength, or concentration
thinning paint
thinning the trees in a woodlot
the crowd thinned a little
the thinning ranks of true cowboys — American Guide Series: Texas
the lines of magnetic and electric force thinned out geometrically with the square of the distance from their origin — S.F.Mason
attenuate may indicate thinning by mechanical or chemical means or thinning accompanied by enervation, enfeeblement, or other weakening
attenuate wire by drawing it out
the powerful frame attenuated by spare living — Charles Dickens
the apparent brightness of the stars as we see them, with their light attenuated by distance and the cosmic haze — G.W.Gray b. 1886
illusions which science can attenuate or destroy — J.W.Krutch
extenuate may sometimes mean to emaciate; it usually suggests a diminution of significance and effect
the whole tendency of modern thought and modern opinion and modern manners is to extenuate the responsibility of human nature — Compton Mackenzie
dilute indicates a weakening of concentration by addition of a weakening, neutralizing, or counteracting agency
dilute the paint with turpentine
acid diluted with water
explosives in nuclear weapons, when diluted, provide the fuel required for most peaceful atom products — New Republic
the strength of passionate emotion is diluted to the languor of interminable sentimentality — R.A.Hall b. 1911
the pioneer spirit has been diluted by new race mixtures, it confidence shaken by new social trends — American Guide Series: Minnesota
rarefy indicates a thinning in density, sometimes, with reference to matters intellectual or emotional, by refining and eliminating all dross or by imparting a tenuous or even nebulous quality
rarefied mountain air
these claims are argued in the rarefied atmosphere of academic discussion — M.S.Handler
a civilization so rarefied that it is almost decadent — Santha Rama Rau