slender
adj.-
1 thin and graceful (adj.) B2 Upper Intermediatethin in an attractive or elegant way.
gracefully thin or slim in physical form; carries a generally positive or aesthetic connotation.
ExampleThe dancer had long, slender legs that made her movements look very elegant.
ExampleThe architect designed the pavilion with slender steel columns to create a sense of weightlessness and transparency against the garden backdrop.
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2 small or limited (adj.) C1 Advanced Formalvery small in amount or size, often not enough.
limited or meagre in amount, size, or degree; often used to describe chances, resources, or evidence.
ExampleThe team only has a slender lead, so they could still lose the game.
ExampleThe prosecution's case rested on a slender thread of circumstantial evidence that the defence was quick to challenge during the cross-examination.
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3 linguistics (adj.) C2 Proficiency Technical Sciencea special way of pronouncing certain sounds in languages like Irish.
referring to palatalized consonants in the phonology of Goidelic languages, such as Irish or Scottish Gaelic.
ExampleIn Irish, the sound of the letter 's' changes if it is slender.
ExampleThe distinction between broad and slender consonants is a fundamental feature of Irish phonology, affecting both the vowel quality and the articulation of the consonant itself.
UsageIn Celtic linguistics, 'slender' is the opposite of 'broad'.
- palatalized
From Middle English slendre, sclendre, from Old French esclendre (“thin, slender”), from Middle Dutch slinder (“thin, lank”), from Proto-Germanic slindraz (“sliding, slippery”), from Proto-Indo-European sleydʰ- (“to slip”). Cognate with Bavarian Schlenderling (“that which dangles”), German schlendern (“to saunter, stroll”), Dutch slidderen, slinderen (“to wriggle, creep like a serpent”), Low German slindern (“to slide on ice”). More at slide, slither.