- thickset
- thickset *stocky, thick, chunky, stubby, squat, dumpyAnalogous words: bulky, *massive, massy: *fleshy, stout, portly, plump thief robber, burglar (see under THEFT) thin adj Thin, slender, slim, slight, tenuous, rare are in general referable not only to measure in width or amount but also to quantity or quality and agree in meaning not broad, not thick, not abundant, nor dense.Thin basically implies comparatively little extension between two surfaces of a thing{
a thin layer of cement
}{a thin stratum of rock
}{a thin coin
}or the comparatively small diameter of a cylindrical or nearly cylindrical thing in proportion to its height or length{a thin body
}{the thin trunk of a tree
}{thin wire
}In its extended senses the term usually implies the lack of the flesh or substance that fills out a thing to its normal or usual extent and gives it fullness, richness, substantiality, compactness, or density{a thin face
}{thin wine
}{a thin argument
}{a thin forest
}{thin hair
}{thin, pebbly earth, which was merely the rock pulverized by weather— Cather
}{like the air of a mountaintop— thin, but pure and bracing— Inge
}{would make a sound as thin and sweet as trees in country lanes— Millay
}Slender, as applied to the bodies of men and of animals, implies leanness or spareness without any suggestion of gauntness or lankiness and usually carries a distinct connotation of gracefulness and of good proportions{a slender girl
}{a slender dog
}{slender white hands— Anderson
}Slender is preferred to thin in describ-ing things of narrow extension when the thinness is an element of beauty and gracefulness of line{a slender vase
}{the slender legs of a Sheraton chair
}{the pure slender lines of water falling from the abrupt wooded crag— Binyon
}In its extended use slender is often employed with little distinction from thin, but it is often preferred when quantity or amount rather than quality is stressed{a few attempts had been made . . . with slender success— Macaulay
}{packed up her slender belongings— Kipling)}
}{with slender forces he had to face the formidable Sextus— Buchan
}{such a vision [of life] as might come as the result of few or slender experiences— T. S. Eliot
}Slim differs little from slender when applied to the figures of persons or animals; it may sometimes suggest fragility or gauntness rather than grace, and lack of flesh rather than excellent proportions. In its extended senses, however, slim usually carries a clearer implication of meagerness or scantiness than slender, which, though it suggests smallness in amount or quantity, implies less commonly than slim a falling short of adequacy or sufficiency; thus, slim resources are by suggestion more meager than slender resources{he has a slim chance of recovery
}{his hopes for success are slim
}{there was a slim attendance at the meeting
}Slight through most of its variations in meaning carries a more obvious implication of smallness than of thinness; when applied to persons, it seldom suggests height or length, as slender usually does or slim sometimes does{a slight, middle-aged man
}When applied to things, it is often derogatory and usually implies a failure to come up to a level of what is commensurate, adequate, or significant{a slight and transient fancy— Arnold
}{a slight difference
}{his success was slight
}{there is . . . ground to recognize a slight intellectual superiority in the upper social class— Ellis
}{he liked the folksong, because it was a slight thing, born of immediate impulse— Huxley
}Tenuous basically implies extreme thinness or even absence of perceptible thickness; the term is literally applicable to things (as lines, cords, or wires) of great length or height and of minute diameter{the most tenuous of threads
}{as tenuous as the filament of a spider's web
}or to fabrics and textiles which are exceedingly sheer or gauzy{tenuous fabrics such as tulle and chiffon
}In its extended senses tenuous often describes something which covers an expanse but lacks density, compactness, or solidity{some [stars] are extremely dense and compact, others extremely tenuous— Eddington
}{tenuous evening mists— Darrow
}or something which is so finespun or so fine-drawn as to be exceedingly subtle, abstruse, or visionary{a tenuous idealism— Binyon
}{poetry ... so tenuous in thought and feeling that only the most exquisite diction can justify its perpetuation in cold print— Grandgent
}{I did not despise the golden, tenuous imaginings . . . starting in my own spirit— Galsworthy
}Rare in the sense of rarefied (see also INFREQUENT, CHOICE) is applied chiefly to gases and especially to air{he was miles high . . . nearly slump-ing in the rare air— Cozzens
}In its uncommon extended use it suggests tenuity or sometimes extreme exaltation or elevation{reared in the rarest air of German intellectualism— Time
}{if we try to express almost any poems of his in prose, we find it impossible; its rare spirit evaporates in the process— Day Lewis
}Analogous words: *lean, spare, lank, lanky, gaunt: *meager, exiguous, scanty: cadaverous, pinched, wasted, *haggard: attenuated, extenuated, diluted (see THIN vb)Antonyms: thick
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
