# thin

> English word · Adjective · IPA /θɪn/ · frequency rank #3,200

## Definitions
1. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
2. Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions.
3. Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt.
4. Of low viscosity or low specific gravity.
5. Scarce; not close, crowded, or numerous; not filling the space.
6. Describing a poorly played golf shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head. See fat, shank, toe.
7. Lacking body or volume; small; feeble; not full.
8. Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering.
9. Of a route: relatively little used.
10. Poor; scanty; without money or success.

## Etymology
From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”).
Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Polish cienki, Russian тонкий (tonkij), Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.

## Easily confused with
- **ti** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-ti)
- **TN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tn)
- **tip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tip)
- **tie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tie)
- **Tim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tim)
- **tho** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tho)
- **ton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-ton)
- **thy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-thy)
- **tin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tin)
- **tri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tri)
- **tit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tit)
- **tic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tic)
- **Tia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tia)
- **Thu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-thu)
- **tun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tun)
- **TOI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-toi)
- **tig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tig)
- **tui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tui)
- **TMI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tmi)
- **THT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thin-vs-tht)

## Common misspellings (6)
`htin`, `thhin`, `thinn`, `thni`, `tihn`, `tthin`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/thin