shallow

English

Etymology

Origin uncertain; apparently related to Old English sceald.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈʃaləʊ/
• (US) IPA: /ˈʃæl.oʊ/, SAMPA: /"S{l.oU/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æləʊ

Adjective

shallow (comparative shallower, superlative shallowest)

1. Having little depth; significantly less deep than wide.

   This crater is relatively shallow

   Saute the onions in a shallow pan

2. Extending not far downward.

   The water is shallow here

3. Concerned mainly with superficial matters.

   It was a glamorous but shallow lifestyle

4. Lacking interest or substance.

   The acting is good, but the characters are shallow

Antonyms

• deep

Translations

having little depth and significantly less deep than wide

Arabic: ضحل (ar) (DáHil) Basque: azaleko (eu) Chinese: Mandarin: 淺 (cmn), 浅 (cmn) (qiǎn) Czech: mělký (cs) Danish: flad (da), lav (da) Finnish: matala (fi) French: peu profond (fr) German: seicht (de), flach (de)

Greek: ρηχός (el) (richós) Hungarian: lapos (hu) Japanese: 浅い (ja) (あさい, asai) Latvian: sekls (lv) Portuguese: raso (pt) Romanian: plat (ro), puțin adânc (ro) Russian: мелкий (ru) (mélkij), неглубокий (ru) Scottish Gaelic: eu-domhainn (gd) Spanish: poco profundo (es) m., superficial (es) Swedish: ytlig (sv) c.

extending not far downward

Czech: mělký (cs) Danish: lav (da), lavvandet (da) Dutch: ondiep (nl) Finnish: matala (fi) Greek: ρηχός (el) (richós) Hungarian: sekély (hu)

Latvian: sekls (lv) Portuguese: superficial (pt) Russian: мелкий (ru) (mélkij) Scottish Gaelic: eu-domhainn (gd) Swedish: ytlig (sv) c. Turkish: sığ (tr)

concerned mainly with superficial matters

Chinese: Mandarin: 膚淺 (cmn), 肤浅 (cmn) (fūqiǎn), 淺薄 (cmn), 浅薄 (cmn) (qiǎnbó) Czech: povrchní (cs) Danish: overfladisk (da) Dutch: oppervlakkig (nl) Finnish: pinnallinen (fi) French: superficiel (fr) German: oberflächlich (de)

Greek: ρηχός (el) (richós) Hungarian: sekélyes (hu) Italian: superficiale (it) m. and f. Japanese: 浅い (ja) (あさい, asai) Portuguese: superficial (pt) Russian: поверхностный (ru) (povérxnostnyj) Scottish Gaelic: eu-domhainn (gd) Spanish: superficial (es) Swedish: ytlig (sv) c.

lacking interest or substance

Czech: povrchní (cs) Danish: åndsforladt (da) Finnish: pinnallinen (fi) French: superficiel (fr) German: oberflächlich (de) Greek: ρηχός (el) (richós)

Hungarian: felszínes (hu), felületes (hu) Portuguese: desinteressante (pt) Russian: поверхностный (ru) (povérxnostnyj) Scottish Gaelic: faoin (gd), eu-domhainn (gd) Spanish: superficial (es) Swedish: ytlig (sv) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: ondiep (1, 2), oppervlakkig (3, 4) Italian: poco profondo (1, 2); superficiale (3)

Korean: 얕은 (yateun) Portuguese: raso, pouco profundo, superficial Romanian: superficial Spanish: poco profundo (1, 2); superficial (3,4) Swedish: grund Turkish: sığ (2, 3, 4)

Noun

shallow (plural shallows)

1. A shallow portion of an otherwise deep body of water.

   The ship ran aground in an unexpected shallow.

Usage notes

• Usually used in the plural form.

Translations

shallow portion of an otherwise deep body of water

Albanian: cekëtinë (sq) f. Czech: mělčina (cs) f. Dutch: ondiepte (nl) f. German: seicht (de) Japanese: 川瀬 (kawase)

Portuguese: raso (pt), rasa (pt) Russian: мель (ru) (m'el') f., отмель (ru) (ótm'el') f. Scottish Gaelic: tanalachd (gd) f. Swedish: grund (sv) c.

See also

• shoal
• sandbar
• sandbank

Verb

shallow (third-person singular simple present shallows, present participle shallowing, simple past and past participle shallowed)

1. To make or become less deep
   • 2009,, Andrew Z. Krug et al., “Signature of the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction in the Modern Biota”^[1], Science, volume 323, number 5915, DOI:10.1126/science.1164905, pages 767-771: 

     The shallowing of Cenozoic age-frequency curves from tropics to poles thus appears to reflect the decreasing probability for genera to reach and remain established in progressively higher latitudes ( 9 ).

Anagrams

• hallows