thin 1 S2 W2 / θɪn / 形容词 ( comparative thinner , superlative thinnest )

1 not thick if something is thin, there is only a small distance between its two opposite sides or surfaces 反义词 thick :

a thin gold chain

She’s only wearing a thin summer jacket (= a jacket made of light material ) .

two thin slices of bread

The road was covered with a thin layer of ice.

The skin on the eyelids is the thinnest on the body.

paper/wafer thin (= very thin )

Keep your voice down – the walls are paper thin.

2 not fat having little fat on your body 反义词 fat :

He was tall and thin, with short brown hair.

thin arms/legs/lips etc

He has long thin hands.

Most high school girls say they want to be thinner.

3 hair if someone has thin hair, they do not have a lot of hair :

a thin straggly beard

His hair is quite thin on top.

4 liquid a liquid that is thin flows very easily because it has a lot of water in it 反义词 thick :

thin paint

5 smoke/mist smoke or mist that is thin is easy to see through 反义词 thick :

The fog is quite thin in places.

6 air air that is thin is more difficult to breathe than usual because it has less oxygen in it :

the thinner air high in the mountains

7 excuse/argument/evidence etc a thin excuse, argument, or evidence is not good or detailed enough to be useful or effective :

Evidence that capital punishment deters crime is pretty thin.

8 a thin margin/majority etc a very small number or amount of something :

Engle beat Blanchard by a razor-thin margin (= a very small number of votes ) in the race for governor.

9 smile a thin smile does not seem very happy or sincere :

Charlie gave her a thin smile.

10 voice/sound a thin voice or sound is high and unpleasant to listen to :

His thin voice trailed off.

11 the thin end of the wedge British English spoken an expression meaning something that you think is the beginning of a harmful development :

Workers believe the job cuts are just the thin end of the wedge.

12 be thin on the ground if a particular type of person or thing is thin on the ground, there are very few available :

Taxis seem to be thin on the ground.

13 be having a thin time (of it) British English spoken to be in a difficult situation, especially one in which you do not have enough money

14 be (walking/treading/skating) on thin ice to be in a situation in which you are likely to upset someone or cause trouble :

I was on thin ice, and I knew it.

15 disappear/vanish into thin air to disappear completely in a mysterious way :

Victor and his kidnappers had vanished into thin air.

16 out of thin air out of nowhere, as if by magic :

It seems like researchers have just pulled the numbers out of thin air.

→ wear thin

— thinness 名词 [不可数名词]

THESAURUS

person

thin having little fat on your body : a tall, thin man

slim thin in an attractive way : her slim figure | a slim woman in her fifties | Magazines are always full of advice about how to stay slim.

slender written thin in an attractive and graceful way – used especially about parts of the body, and used especially about women : her long, slender legs | She is slender, with very fair hair.

lean thin and looking healthy and fit : his lean body | He was lean and looked like a runner.

skinny very thin in a way that is not attractive : a skinny teenager | Your arms are so skinny!

slight written thin and delicate : a small, slight girl with big eyes

scrawny / skrɔni $ skrɒ- / very thin, small, and weak-looking : a scrawny kid in blue jeans

underweight below the usual weight for someone of your height, and therefore too thin : He had no appetite and remained underweight.

gaunt / ɡɔnt $ ɡɒnt / written very thin and pale, especially because of illness or continued worry : He looked gaunt and had not shaved for days.

emaciated / ɪmeɪʃieɪtəd, ɪmeɪʃieɪtɪd, -si- / written extremely thin and weak, because you are ill or not getting enough to eat : The tents were filled with emaciated refugees.

skeletal written used about someone who is so thin that you can see the shape of their bones : The soldiers were shocked by the skeletal figures of the camp’s prisoners.

anorexic used about someone who is extremely thin because they have a mental illness that makes them stop eating : Her daughter is anorexic. | anorexic teenagers

object/material

thin not wide : a thin slice of cake | a thin layer of ice | The gold was very thin.

slim thin, especially in a way that looks attractive : a slim volume of poetry | a slim mobile phone | a slim wooden box

slender written tall or long and thin, in a way that looks attractive, but is often not very strong : the slender columns that supported the roof | The spider was hanging by a slender thread.

paper-thin/wafer-thin extremely thin, like paper : The walls of the apartment were paper-thin. | wafer-thin slices of pastry | The petals are paper-thin.