thin
thin
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "thin" is /θɪn/.
First and only syllable: /θɪn/
/θ/ - voiceless dental fricative (as in "through")
/ɪ/ - near-high, near-front unrounded vowel (as in "kit")
/n/ - alveolar nasal (as in "nap")
Word Form Variations
Adjective: thin, thinner, thinnest
Verb: thin, thins, thinning, thinned
Adverb: thinly
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Adjective
Definition: Having a small distance between opposite sides; not thick.
Synonyms: slender, narrow, delicate, fine, flimsy, gaunt, emaciated
Antonyms: thick, wide, broad, bulky, plump, fat
Definition: Containing little substance; diluted or weak in consistency.
Synonyms: watery, diluted, weak, sparse, meager, scanty
Antonyms: concentrated, strong, dense, thick, abundant
Definition: Lacking in body or volume; not full or robust.
Synonyms: sparse, scarce, scanty, insubstantial, fragile
Antonyms: dense, thick, abundant, full, rich
Verb
Definition: To make or become less thick or dense.
Synonyms: dilute, reduce, attenuate, narrow, trim, prune
Antonyms: thicken, widen, broaden, expand, increase
Definition: To make or become less crowded or numerous.
Synonyms: decrease, diminish, reduce, disperse, clear out, weed out
Antonyms: increase, multiply, expand, crowd, densify
Adverb
Definition: In a way that is not thick or dense; sparsely.
Synonyms: sparsely, lightly, narrowly, delicately
Antonyms: thickly, densely, broadly, heavily
Examples of Use
Books:
"His face, once plump, had grown thin with worry and lack of sleep." (From The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, 1939)
"The line between genius and madness is often a very thin one." (From Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, October 2011)
Newspapers:
"Experts warn that the Arctic ice cap continues to thin at an alarming rate." (Associated Press)
"The mayor's argument for the new tax plan was a thin attempt to avoid public scrutiny." (Nairobi News)
Online Publications:
"The new smartphone is remarkably thin and light, making it comfortable to hold for extended periods." (TechCrunch.com)
"As the season progresses, the once lush foliage on the trees begins to thin." (National Geographic online)
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Film: In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf warns, "The world is changing. I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. It is thin now, the veil between." (December 2001)
Television Series: A character in The Crown might remark, "Her Majesty's patience is wearing thin with this constant bickering." (Netflix)
Music: The lyrics to the song "Mad World" by Tears for Fears include the line, "I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad / The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had / I find it hard to tell you, 'cause I find it hard to take / When people run in circles it's a very, very mad world, mad world / Children waiting for the day they feel good / Happy birthday, happy birthday / And I feel the way that every child should / Sit and listen, sit and listen / Went to school and I was very nervous / No one knew me, no one knew me / Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson / Look right through me, look right through me." While "thin" isn't in these specific lyrics, a common usage might be "the sound was thin and reedy." (February 1983)
Video Games: In a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a character might say, "The ancient wall looks quite thin here, perhaps we can break through it." (March 2017)
General Public Discourse:
"The crowd began to thin out after the main concert act finished."
"You need to thin the paint with a little water before applying it."
"His explanation for why he was late was a bit thin, to be honest."
"The air up in the mountains feels much thinner than down in the valley."
10 Quotes Using Thin
"There is a thin line between love and hate." (Attributed to various sources, often popular wisdom)
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a a thin difference." (Mark Twain)
"There is a thin membrane of oxygen that keeps us alive." (Astronaut Chris Hadfield)
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. The thin line between success and failure is often hard to discern." (Winston Churchill)
"On the thin ice of a new day, we skate toward morning." (Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, though its exact origin is debated)
"The world is thin now. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it." (Gandalf, from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
"I believe that we are thin places, where the veil between worlds is permeable." (John O'Donohue, Anam Cara)
"It is a thin morning, with a haze over the hills." (From The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck)
"The line between good and evil is thin." (Attributed to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
"My patience is wearing thin." (Common idiom, no single attribution)
Etymology
The word "thin" has a long history, going back to the very earliest days of the English language.
Its journey starts even before Old English, in a reconstructed ancient language called Proto-Indo-European. The root word there was something like *ten-, which meant "to stretch" or "to extend." Think of stretching something out until it becomes less dense or wide.
From this root, we get the Proto-Germanic word *thunni, which already meant "thin." This word then made its way into Old English as þynne (pronounced something like "thoon-yeh").
The first known uses of "thin" in Old English, dating back to before 1150, already carried meanings very similar to what we use today:
Of a physical object: "of comparatively small diameter, narrow" (like a thin wire).
Of a person or animal: "lean, scanty, not dense" (like a thin person).
Of liquids or substances: "fluid, tenuous" (like thin soup or thin air).
Figuratively: "weak, poor" (like a thin argument).
So, essentially, the core idea of something being "stretched out" or "having little substance or width" has been present in the word "thin" for over a thousand years, passing down through the Germanic languages and into the English we speak today.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Thin
Here's a list of phrases and idioms using "thin":
Thin on the ground: Scarce; few in number.
Wear thin: To become less effective, tolerable, or patient over time.
Thin-skinned: Easily offended or upset.
A thin line (between...): A very small difference that separates two things, often opposites.
Come out of thin air: To appear suddenly and mysteriously.
Thin air: An undefined or non-existent place; nowhere.
Spread oneself too thin: To be involved in too many activities, to the point of not being able to do any of them well.
On thin ice: In a risky or precarious situation.
Through thick and thin: Under all circumstances, no matter how difficult.
Thin gruel: Something that is inadequate, meager, or unsatisfactory.
Thin as a rail: Extremely slender or emaciated.
Spin a thin yarn: To tell a long and often unbelievable story.
Thin end of the wedge: An initial small change or action that is likely to lead to further, more significant changes.
Thin soup: Lacking substance or nourishment (literal or figurative).
Thin-lipped: Having lips pressed tightly together, often indicating disapproval or anger.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of thin from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
