shallow
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English schalowe (“not deep, shallow”); apparently related to Old English sceald (“shallow”). See also shoal.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
shallow (comparative shallower, superlative shallowest)
- Having little depth; significantly less deep than wide.
- This crater is relatively shallow.
- Saute the onions in a shallow pan.
- Extending not far downward.
- The water is shallow here.
- Concerned mainly with superficial matters.
- It was a glamorous but shallow lifestyle.
- Lacking interest or substance.
- The acting is good, but the characters are shallow.
- Not intellectually deep; not penetrating deeply; simple; not wise or knowing.
- shallow learning
- Francis Bacon
- The king was neither so shallow, nor so ill advertised, as not to perceive the intention of the French king.
- (obsolete) Not deep in tone.
- Francis Bacon
- the sound perfecter and not so shallow and jarring
- Francis Bacon
- (tennis) Not far forward, close to the net
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2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in the Guardian[1]:
- Rosol spurned the chance to finish off a shallow second serve by spooning into the net, and a wild forehand took the set to 5-4, with the native of Prerov required to hold his serve for victory.
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Antonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
having little depth and significantly less deep than wide
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extending not far downward
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concerned mainly with superficial matters
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lacking interest or substance
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Noun[edit]
shallow (plural shallows)
- A shallow portion of an otherwise deep body of water.
- The ship ran aground in an unexpected shallow.
- Francis Bacon
- A swift stream is not heard in the channel, but upon shallows of gravel.
- Dryden
- dashed on the shallows of the moving sand
- A fish, the rudd.
Usage notes[edit]
- Usually used in the plural form.
Translations[edit]
shallow portion of an otherwise deep body of water
See also[edit]
Verb[edit]
shallow (third-person singular simple present shallows, present participle shallowing, simple past and past participle shallowed)
- To make or become less deep
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2009 February 6, Andrew Z. Krug et al., “Signature of the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction in the Modern Biota”, in Science[2], volume 323, number 5915, DOI:, 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 ).
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