different between wiry vs slim

English

Etymology

wire +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?wa?(?)?i/
• Rhymes: -a???i

Adjective

wiry (comparative wirier, superlative wiriest)

1. Thin, muscular and flexible.

   Don't fight him. He may be small, but he's wiry.

Translations

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?v?i.r?/

Noun

wiry

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of wir

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Details on sense development -- how did we get from "bad" to "favorably thin"?”)Borrowing from Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”), from Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”), from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”). Compare Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”) Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”), German schlimm (“bad”), West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sl?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Adjective

slim (comparative slimmer, superlative slimmest)

1. Slender, thin.
   1. (of a person or a person's build) Slender in an attractive way.

      Movie stars are usually slim, attractive, and young.

   2. (by extension, of clothing) Designed to make the wearer appear slim.
   3. (of an object) Long and narrow.
   4. (of a workforce) Of a reduced size, with the intent of being more efficient.
2. (of something abstract like a chance or margin) Very small, tiny.

   I'm afraid your chances are quite slim.
3. (rural, Northern England, Scotland) Bad, of questionable quality; not strongly built, flimsy.

4. (South Africa, obsolete in Britain) Sly, crafty.

Synonyms

• (slender in an attractive way.): lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender
• (clothing):
• (long and narrow): fine, stalky, sticklike, thin, virgate
• (reduced workforce):
• (tiny; of something abstract): infinitesimal, marginal; see also Thesaurus:tiny
• (of questionable quality): flimsy, lousy, shoddy; see also Thesaurus:low-quality
• (crafty): cunning, frood; see also Thesaurus:wily

Translations

References

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Noun

slim (plural slims)

1. A type of cigarette substantially longer and thinner than normal cigarettes.

   I only smoke slims.

2. (Ireland, regional) A potato farl.
3. (East Africa, uncountable) AIDS, or the chronic wasting associated with its later stages.
4. (slang, uncountable) Cocaine.

Alternative forms

• (AIDS): Slim

Verb

slim (third-person singular simple present slims, present participle slimming, simple past and past participle slimmed)

1. (intransitive) To lose weight in order to achieve slimness.
2. (transitive) To make slimmer; to reduce in size.

Translations

Anagrams

• MILs, MLIS, MSIL, SMIL, mils, misl

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse slím (“slime”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sli?m/, [sli??m]

Noun

slim c or n (singular definite slimen or slimet, uncountable)

1. slime
2. mucus

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch slim, slem, slimp, slemp, from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”), compare German schlimm (“bad”), English slim.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sl?m/
• Hyphenation: slim
• Rhymes: -?m

Adjective

slim (comparative slimmer, superlative slimst)

1. intelligent, bright
2. clever, smart
3. (now dialectal, Eastern Dutch) wrong, incorrect, bad

Inflection

Synonyms

• intelligent
• scherpzinnig
• schrander
• sluw

Derived terms

• slimheid
• slimmerd
• slimmerik
• slimmigheid

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse slím

Noun

slim n (definite singular slimet, uncountable)

1. mucus, phlegm
2. slime

Derived terms

• slimhinne

References

• “slim” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “slim_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse slím

Noun

slim n (definite singular slimet, uncountable)

1. mucus, phlegm
2. slime

Derived terms

• slimhinne

References

• “slim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

West Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sl?m/

Adjective

slim

1. bad
2. dire
3. difficult

Inflection

Further reading

• “slim (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011