different between frail vs slight
frail
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French fraile, from Latin fragilis. Cognate to fraction, fracture, and doublet of fragile.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /f?e?l/
- Rhymes: -e?l
Adjective
frail (comparative frailer, superlative frailest)
- Easily broken physically; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish
- 1831, John James Audubon, Ornithological Biography: Volume 1, Blue-grey Fly-catcher
- Its nest is composed of the frailest materials, and is light and small in proportion to the size of the bird
- 1831, John James Audubon, Ornithological Biography: Volume 1, Blue-grey Fly-catcher
- Weak; infirm.
- 1922, Isaac Rosenberg, Dawn
- O as the soft and frail lights break upon your eyelids
- 1922, Isaac Rosenberg, Dawn
- Mentally fragile.
- Liable to fall from virtue or be led into sin; not strong against temptation; weak in resolution; unchaste.
Derived terms
- frailly
- frailness
Related terms
Translations
Noun
frail (plural frails)
- A basket made of rushes, used chiefly to hold figs and raisins.
- The quantity of fruit or other items contained in a frail.
- A rush for weaving baskets.
- (dated, slang) A girl.
- 1931, Cab Calloway / Irving Mills, ‘Minnie the Moocher’:
- She was the roughest, toughest frail, but Minnie had a heart as big as a whale.
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 148:
- ‘She's pickin' 'em tonight, right on the nose,’ he said. ‘That tall black-headed frail.’
- 1941, Preston Sturges, Sullivan's Travels, published in Five Screenplays, ?ISBN, page 77:
- Sullivan, the girl and the butler get to the ground. The girl wears a turtle-neck sweater, a cap slightly sideways, a torn coat, turned-up pants and sneakers.
- SULLIVAN Why don't you go back with the car... You look about as much like a boy as Mae West.
- THE GIRL All right, they'll think I'm your frail.
- 1931, Cab Calloway / Irving Mills, ‘Minnie the Moocher’:
Verb
frail (third-person singular simple present frails, present participle frailing, simple past and past participle frailed)
- To play a stringed instrument, usually a banjo, by picking with the back of a fingernail.
References
- frail in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Anagrams
- filar, flair
frail From the web:
- what frail means
- what frailty means
- what frail means in spanish
- what frailty means in spanish
- what frail elderly
- what frail means in farsi
- what is frail body meaning
- what frail mean in arabic
slight
English
Etymology
From Middle English slight (“bad, of poor quality, unimportant, trivial, slender, slim, smooth, level”), from Old English sliht (“smooth, level”), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“slippery, flat, level, plain”), related to English slick. Cognate with Scots slicht (“bad, of poor quality”), West Frisian sljocht (“smooth, level, plain, simple”), Dutch slecht (“bad”), Low German slecht (“bad”), German schlecht (“bad”) and schlicht (“plain, artless, natural”), Danish slet (“bad, evil, poor, nasty, wrong”), Swedish slät (“smooth”), Norwegian slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: sl?t, IPA(key): /sla?t/
- (US) IPA(key): [sl?l?????]
- Rhymes: -a?t
- Homophone: sleight
Adjective
slight (comparative slighter, superlative slightest)
- Small
- gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful
- not thorough; superficial
- trifling; unimportant; insignificant
- 1741, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education & of the Conduct of the Understanding
- Some firmly embrace doctrines upon slight grounds.
- 1741, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education & of the Conduct of the Understanding
- (archaic or rare) not far away in space or time
- Synonyms: ignorable, meaningless, negligible, tiny; see also Thesaurus:tiny, Thesaurus:insignificant
- gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful
- of slender build
- 1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak
- his own figure, which was formerly so slight
- Synonyms: lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender
- 1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak
- (regional) Even, smooth or level
- Synonyms: flat, glassy, slick; see also Thesaurus:smooth
- (especially said of the sea) still; with little or no movement on the surface
- (obsolete) Foolish; silly; not intellectual.
- Synonyms: daft, fatuous, soft in the head; see also Thesaurus:foolish
- (regional, obsolete) Bad, of poor quality.
- 1889 (first published), George Washington, Writings
- we frequently have slight Goods and sometimes old and unsaleable Articles
- Synonyms: flimsy, lousy, shoddy; see also Thesaurus:low-quality
- 1889 (first published), George Washington, Writings
- (dated) Slighting; treating with disdain.
- Synonyms: contemptuous, disdainful, scornful; see also Thesaurus:disdainful
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
slight (third-person singular simple present slights, present participle slighting, simple past and past participle slighted)
- (transitive) To treat as unimportant or not worthy of attention; to make light of.
- 1782, William Cowper, Truth
- the wretch who slights the bounty of the skies
- 1782, William Cowper, Truth
- (transitive) To give lesser weight or importance to.
- 1915, Josephine Turck Baker, Correct English (volumes 16-17, page 182)
- Incontiguously (accent on tig; the rest of the syllables slighted) means in an incontiguous manner.
- Synonym: belittle
- Antonyms: respect, value, esteem
- 1915, Josephine Turck Baker, Correct English (volumes 16-17, page 182)
- (transitive) To treat with disdain or neglect, usually out of prejudice, hatred, or jealousy; to ignore disrespectfully.
- 1833, Mary Shelley, The Mortal Immortal
- Though true of heart, she was somewhat of a coquette in manner; and I was jealous as a Turk. She slighted me in a thousand ways, yet would never acknowledge herself to be in the wrong. She would drive me mad with anger, and then force me to beg her pardon.
- Synonyms: contemn, despise
- Antonyms: respect, honor
- 1833, Mary Shelley, The Mortal Immortal
- (intransitive) To act negligently or carelessly. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (transitive, military, of a fortification) To render no longer defensible by full or partial demolition.
- (transitive) To make even or level.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Hexham to this entry?)
- (transitive) To throw heedlessly.
Derived terms
- slightingly
Translations
Noun
slight (plural slights)
- The act of slighting; a deliberate act of neglect or discourtesy.
- Synonyms: ignoring, neglect, belittlement
- Antonym: respect
- 1793, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
- Never use a slighting expression to her, even in jest; for slights in jest, after frequent bandyings, are apt to end in angry earnest.
- (obsolete) Sleight.
- For till that stownd could never wight him harme,
By subtilty, nor slight, nor might, nor mighty charme.
- For till that stownd could never wight him harme,
Derived terms
- put a slight upon
Translations
Further reading
- The Dictionary of the Scots Language
- The Dictionary of the Scots Language
- The Middle English Dictionary
Anagrams
- lights
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English sliht, from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz.
Alternative forms
- sli?t, slei?te, sle?t, slyght, sleght, sleight, sly?t
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /slixt/, /sl?xt/
- Rhymes: -ixt
Adjective
slight
- Level, even, smooth; having no bumps or lumps.
- (rare) Of little importance or relevance.
- (rare) Slim, narrow, skinny; of little breadth.
- (rare) Badly made, poorly-built, or low-quality.
Descendants
- English: slight
- Scots: slicht
- Yola: sleight
References
- “slight, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-12.
Etymology 2
Noun
slight
- Alternative form of sleight
Adjective
slight
- Alternative form of sleight
slight From the web:
- what slight means
- what light
- what lightsaber color am i
- what light from yonder window breaks
- what lights to use in fog
- what lightsaber color are you
- what light is best for sleep
- what lightsaber colors mean
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