shallow

shallow
I. adjective Etymology: Middle English schalowe; probably akin to Old English sceald shallow — more at skeleton Date: 14th century 1. having little depth <
shallow water
>
2. having little extension inward or backward <
office buildings have taken the form of shallow slabs — Lewis Mumford
>
3. a. penetrating only the easily or quickly perceived <
shallow generalizations
>
b. lacking in depth of knowledge, thought, or feeling <
a shallow demagogue
>
4. displacing comparatively little air ; weak <
shallow breathing
>
Synonyms: see superficialshallowly adverbshallowness noun II. verb Date: 1510 transitive verb to make shallow intransitive verb to become shallow III. noun Date: 1569 a shallow place or area in a body of water — usually used in plural but sing. or plural in constr.

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Shallow — Shal low, a. [Compar. {Shallower}; superl. {Shallowest}.] [OE. schalowe, probably originally, sloping or shelving; cf. Icel. skj[=a]lgr wry, squinting, AS. sceolh, D. & G. scheel, OHG. schelah. Cf. {Shelve} to slope, {Shoal} shallow.] 1. Not… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • shallow — [shal′ō] adj. [ME shalow < OE * scealw < IE base * (s)kel , to dry out > SHOAL2, Gr skellein] 1. not deep [a shallow lake] 2. lacking depth of character, intellect, or meaning; superficial 3. slight; weak [shallow breathing] …   English World dictionary

  • Shallow — Shal low, v. t. To make shallow. Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Shallow — Shal low, v. i. To become shallow, as water. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • shallow — [adj1] not deep cursory, depthless, empty, flat, hollow, inconsiderable, sand bar, shelf, shoal, slight, superficial, surface, trifling, trivial, unsound; concepts 737,777 Ant. deep shallow [adj2] unintelligent, ignorant cursory, empty, empty… …   New thesaurus

  • shallow — ► ADJECTIVE 1) of little depth. 2) not showing, requiring, or capable of serious thought. ► NOUN (shallows) ▪ a shallow area of water. DERIVATIVES shallowly adverb shallowness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • Shallow — Shal low, n. 1. A place in a body of water where the water is not deep; a shoal; a flat; a shelf. [1913 Webster] A swift stream is not heard in the channel, but upon shallows of gravel. Bacon. [1913 Webster] Dashed on the shallows of the moving… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • shallow — index barren, cursory, fatuous, frivolous, puerile, superficial, trivial, volatile Burton s Legal Thesaurus …   Law dictionary

  • shallow — (adj.) c.1400, schalowe not deep, probably from O.E. sceald (see SHOAL (Cf. shoal)). Of breathing, attested from 1875; of thought or feeling, superficial, first recorded 1580s. The noun, usually shallows, is first recorded 1570s, from the… …   Etymology dictionary

  • shallow — adj *superficial, cursory, uncritical Analogous words: slim, slight, slender, *thin: trivial, trifling, *petty, paltry: empty, hollow, idle, *vain …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • shallow — 01. The sign said, Warning: [Shallow] water Do Not Dive. 02. The children were wading around in the warm [shallow] water of the bay, trying to catch fish. 03. The body of an unknown man has been found in a [shallow] grave in a forested area on… …   Grammatical examples in English

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