ENGLISH
REFERENCE

shallow

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈʃæɫoʊ// UK //ʃˈæləʊ// shal·low Archaic General-service

adj. having only a short distance from the top to the bottom. You can also use it to describe people who do not think deeply about serious things.

adj. measuring little from the surface to the bottom; lacking depth of intellect, emotion, or character. Often follows a linking verb or precedes a noun.


SIMPLE

The water is very shallow near the beach.

CONTEXTUAL

Children should stay in the shallow end of the pool until they learn how to swim properly.

COMPLEX

Critics dismissed the film as a shallow attempt to capitalize on current trends without offering any meaningful social commentary or character development.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

From Middle English schalowe (“not deep, shallow”); apparently related to Middle English schalde, schold, scheld, schealde (“shallow”), from Old English sċeald (“shallow”), from Proto-Germanic skal-, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kelh₁- (“to parch, dry out”). Related to Low German Scholl (“shallow water”). See also shoal.

Usage

Gradable adjective; often takes modifiers like 'very', 'quite', or 'extremely'.

Idioms1 entry

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