shallow

adjective shal·low \ ˈsha-(ˌ)lō \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

Definition of shallow

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

—

shallowly

play \ˈsha-lō-lē, -lə-lē\ adverb

—

shallowness

noun

See shallow defined for English-language learners

See shallow defined for kids

Examples of shallow in a Sentence

The shallow end of the pool is only three feet deep.
Her boyfriends were all shallow creeps.
She could only take shallow breaths.
His breathing became very shallow.

Recent Examples of shallow from the Web

He was asked about outfield defense on shallow pop-ups.

— ryan divish, The Seattle Times, "Reliever roster shuffle: Mariners bring back right-hander Christian Bergman," 28 Aug. 2017
Her father’s remains were recovered more than two weeks later, lying face down under a shallow layer of sand.

— Washington Post, "Victim’s daughter testifies at Lebanon assassination trial," 28 Aug. 2017
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Mandy Tumlin shot the above footage of a live sperm whale that had moved into shallow waters along the Terrebonne Parish coast in December.

— todd masson, NOLA.com, "Whale washes up on Grand Isle beach," 26 Aug. 2017
There, water filters through sand and charcoal, concentrates into a brine, and evaporates in shallow tanks where crystals form on the surface.

— jessica colley clarke, CNT, "The Best Salt in the World Comes from Wales," 17 Aug. 2017
Place in a shallow pan and drizzle with olive oil and juice of the other lemon, and sprinkle with garlic and parsley.

— nancy miller, The Courier-Journal, "Summer seafood mixed grill recipe | Vincenzo's," 8 Aug. 2017
In a separate shallow bowl, beat the eggs with 2 teaspoons water.

— sara moulton, Woman's Day, "Buffalo-Style Chicken Kiev," 4 Aug. 2017
Dee Gordon, who hit his first homer of the season in the first, singled to right and Giancarlo Stanton blooped a 65 mph single to shallow center.

— stefan stevenson, star-telegram, "Yu Darvish’s career-worst performance could be his last with Rangers," 27 July 2017
Having seemingly failed to repeal Obamacare, moderate Republicans want Mr McConnell to find a bipartisan way to address its shortcomings, including shallow insurance markets and rising premiums for middle-class policy holders.

— The Economist, "Not repealing Obamacare," 20 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shallow.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of shallow

Middle English schalowe; probably akin to Old English sceald shallow — more at skeleton

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First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

shallow Synonyms

Synonyms

depthless, shoal

Antonyms

deep

Related Words

skin-deep, superficial, surface; fathomable, measurable; finite, limited, measured, restricted; even, flat, flush, horizontal, level, plane, smooth; two-dimensional

Near Antonyms

abysmal, abyssal, bottomless, boundless, endless, immeasurable, inestimable, infinite, limitless, measureless, profound, unfathomable, unlimited, vast; navigable

Synonym Discussion of shallow

superficial, shallow, cursory mean lacking in depth or solidity. superficial implies a concern only with surface aspects or obvious features.

- a superficial analysis of the problem

shallow is more generally derogatory in implying lack of depth in knowledge, reasoning, emotions, or character.

- a light, shallow, and frivolous review

cursory suggests a lack of thoroughness or a neglect of details.

- gave the letter only a cursory reading

shallow

verb

Definition of shallow

transitive verb

:to make shallow

intransitive verb

:to become shallow

Recent Examples of shallow from the Web

After slumping Aaron Judge worked a five-pitch walk, Didi Gregarious followed with a popup to shallow left centerfield, where shortstop Jean Segura, who was battling the sun, called for the ball.

— jay jaffe, SI.com, "The Mariners Had an Horrible, No Good, Very Bad First Inning," 27 Aug. 2017
But Walker flied out to shallow left, Braun popped out to short and Shaw grounded out to third, stranding Thames and leaving the score tied, 1-1.

— tom haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Brewers 4, Giants 3: Two runs in seventh prove the difference in see-saw contest," 23 Aug. 2017
On the leveed west side, marshlands are rapidly converting to shallow open water.

— tristan baurick, NOLA.com, "West Bank coastal restoration project, one of state's biggest, topic of 6 meetings," 11 July 2017
Outlook: 125 Marina reports: Walleyes good trolling 23 feet down with stickbaits or nightcrawlers; smallmouth bass good on shallowing-running baits near tree lines; catfish good on cut bait and live bait using limb lines and trotlines.

— bruce janssen, kansascity, "Fishing report for June 22," 28 June 2017
Jesuit loaded the bases with one out in the second, but Leone got out of the jam with a flyout to shallow right not deep enough for a sacrifice followed by a punchout of the Tigers nine-hole hitter.

— david furones, Sun-Sentinel.com, "McCarthy wins third straight state title and seventh in eight years," 3 June 2017
Brantley flied out to shallow right, so Kipnis held tight at the hot corner.

— zack meisel, cleveland.com, "Francisco Lindor isn't going to stop bunting, no matter what anyone says," 25 May 2017
Barry got two quick out before Brandon Chatman blooped a two-run single to shallow right to give the Vikings a 5-3 lead.

— charles rich, Glendale News-Press, "St. Monica baseball succumbs to St. Bernard dramatics," 19 May 2017
Kasey Simpson got to second on a blooper to shallow right in the second inning and advanced to third on a sacrifice by Riley Love before Dietrich came to the plate.

— brian gosset, star-telegram.com, "Softball recap: Legacy, Eaton walk off in Game 1s," 11 May 2017

First Known Use of shallow

1510

shallow

noun

Definition of shallow

:a shallow place or area in a body of water —usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

Examples of shallow in a Sentence

we waded through the shallows looking for tadpoles

Recent Examples of shallow from the Web

The carp had escaped with rising water and gotten stranded in the shallows.

— todd masson, NOLA.com, "Texas man rescues live fish displaced by floodwaters," 30 Aug. 2017
Earlier in the day, a group of elephants tried to teach two calves to swim in the shallows.

— hillary richard, New York Times, "The Wonder Women of Botswana Safari," 25 Aug. 2017
Only 10 percent of the Northwest Passage is surveyed to the highest modern standards, meaning uncharted shallows could pose a serious risk to shipping.

— frank jordans, The Seattle Times, "Warming Arctic spurs battles for riches, shipping routes," 22 Aug. 2017
Casting swimming lures, surface poppers, and bouncing jigs off the bottom in the shallows at low light has been productive.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Fishing report," 27 July 2017
Well 1, a shallow well built in the 1920s that the village has been forced to use twice since fall 2015, most recently earlier this spring when Well 3 had to be shut down due to mechanical and electrical problems.

— david heitz, chicagotribune.com, "Western Springs residents question staff on water quality issues," 21 July 2017
On Wednesday morning an egret perched at the water’s edge, darting into the shallows to hunt small fish flitting among the eelgrass.

— deborah sullivan brennan, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Parking lot becomes salt marsh in Del Mar wetland restoration," 17 July 2017
Some of them couldn't swim, Simmons said, but wanted to help and stayed in the shallows.

— Alaska Dispatch News, "A riptide swept away a Florida family. Then beachgoers formed a human chain.," 11 July 2017
Glennallen area biologist Frank Robbins said the sow and cubs appear drawn by fish waste left in the shallows and along the banks, according to the release.

— zaz hollander, Alaska Dispatch News, "State issues unusual advisory about bears at dipnetting campground," 24 June 2017

First Known Use of shallow

1569

shallow Synonyms

Synonyms

ford, shallow (s)

Related Words

bank, bar, sandbank, sandbar, towhead

Near Antonyms

trench; abyss, deep, depth, gulf

Other Geology Terms

anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale

SHALLOW Defined for English Language Learners

shallow

adjective

Definition of shallow for English Language Learners

: having a small distance to the bottom from the surface or highest point
: not going far inward from the outside or the front edge of something
: not caring about or involving serious or important things

SHALLOW Defined for Kids

shallow

adjective shal·low \ ˈsha-lō \

Definition of shallow for Students

shallower; shallowest

1 :not deep

a shallow stream

2 :taking in small amounts of air

shallow breaths

3 :showing little knowledge, thought, or feeling

They're shallow people only interested in money.

—

shallowness

noun

shallow

noun

Definition of shallow for Students

:a shallow place in a body of water —usually used in pl.

Medical Dictionary

shallow

adjective shal·low \ ˈshal-(ˌ)ō, -ə(-w) \

medical Definition of shallow

:displacing comparatively little air

shallow breathing

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shallow

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shallow

Definition of shallow

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Recent Examples of shallow from the Web

First Known Use of shallow

shallow Synonyms

Synonyms

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Other Geology Terms

SHALLOW Defined for English Language Learners

shallow

Definition of shallow for English Language Learners

SHALLOW Defined for Kids

shallow

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shallowness

shallow

Definition of shallow for Students

Medical Dictionary

shallow

medical Definition of shallow

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