shallow

adjective shal·low \ ˈsha-(ˌ)lō \

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

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Examples: shallow in a Sentence

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

Early morning or evening are when anglers find game fish moving in to shallow waters to feed.

— carla minsky, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Travel is Good for the Soul," 10 June 2018
Last year, the Houston offshore oil company Talos Energy discovered as much as 2 billion barrels of oil in shallow water off the coast of Mexico, the first significant find since the country opened its oil and gas fields to foreign exploration.

— rye druzin, San Antonio Express-News, "Energy relationship between Texas, Mexico touted at energy summit," 7 June 2018
As the ancient supercontinent Rodinia was breaking apart, these rocks formed in shallow waters with the aid of microbial marine organisms—a sign that the same location was warm just a bit earlier in time, Maclennan explains.

— lucas joel, Science | AAAS, "Ancient Earth froze over in a geologic instant," 7 June 2018
In the mornings, work the shallow water that has sunken brush.

— tyler mahoney special to the star, kansascity, "Fishing report: Nineteen-pound channel cat caught at Wyandotte," 6 June 2018
There were also tracks of some of the meat-eating dinosaurs left by dinosaurs wading in shallow water.

— robert clark, National Geographic, "Why Today is the Golden Age for Dinosaur Discoveries," 2 June 2018
Reef-forming corals prefer shallow water so, as the world’s sea levels have yo-yoed during the Ice Ages, the barrier reef has come and gone.

— The Economist, "Australia’s coral barrier reef keeps dying and coming back," 31 May 2018
Because of the shallow water, the 100-foot dock can only accommodate a cruiser of up to 27 feet.

— New York Times, "For Some in the Hamptons, It’s Not a Home Without a Dock," 18 May 2018
But things may be more dangerous when ships are operating out in shallow waters, where robot rays like the Wattozz may already be lurking on the sea bed, indistinguishable from living stingrays.

— david hambling, Popular Mechanics, "How Robot Stingrays Could One Day Sink a Battleship," 3 May 2018

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

shallow Synonyms

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

shallowed; shallowing; shallows

transitive verb

: to make shallow

intransitive verb

: to become shallow

Recent Examples of shallow from the Web

Courtney Abbott’s two-out bloop single to shallow right fell just beyond an outstretched Lexy Wright, allowing Katie Templeman to race in from third for the walk-off victory.

— steve bittenbender, The Courier-Journal, "Butler ends its 11-year drought and takes home Sixth Region title," 1 June 2018
Kassandra Espinosa tripled deep down the right-field line and Bridgette Tuxbury drove her home with a single to shallow left.

— david furones, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Cooper City tops St. Thomas Aquinas in extras to advance to states," 12 May 2018
With Cole facing Daniel Descalso, Reddick had to race in for a fly ball hit to shallow left.

— bob mcmanaman, azcentral, "Astros' Gerrit Cole flirts with no-hitter, pitches a gem in rout of Diamondbacks," 4 May 2018
Bonzon reached first on a blooper to shallow left field and managed to score shortly after on a throwing error.

— kyle mcfadden, Howard County Times, "Chapelgate softball gets past Pallotti to remain undefeated in conference play," 1 May 2018
But Kela struck out Kyle Seager, Ichiro and got Dee Gordon to pop out to shallow left to end the game.

— ryan divish, The Seattle Times, "Mariners can’t complete sweep of Rangers after Erasmo Ramirez puts them in early hole," 22 Apr. 2018
The first came in the fifth inning, when Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon popped a ball up to shallow leftfield.

— jon tayler, SI.com, "Sean Manaea Stuns Everyone by No-Hitting Baseball's Best Team," 22 Apr. 2018
Brown would walk the perimeter of the pond, peering into the translucent shallows to gaze at the fish.

— ferris jabr, Smithsonian, "It’s Official: Fish Feel Pain," 8 Jan. 2018
Toronto halved the deficit in the third when Hernandez hit a leadoff double and scored on Richard Urena's bloop double to shallow left.

— USA TODAY, "Kevin Gausman pitches 7 innings, Orioles top Blue Jays 2-1 to snap skid," 13 Sep. 2017

First Known Use of shallow

1510

in the meaning defined at transitive sense

See Words from the same year

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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

Only the surface of the Porites formation contains live polyps, so after drilling, the coral formation should continue to grow in the shallows, unharmed and without interruption.

— elizabeth svoboda, Scientific American, "Cores from Coral Reefs Hold Secrets of the Seas’ Past and Future," 6 June 2018
Deep reefs aren’t adjuncts for the shallows, but evolutionary hotbeds that demand protection in their own right.

— ben goldfarb, Smithsonian, "Illuminating the Ocean’s Teeming Twilight Zone, Before It Disappears," 14 Apr. 2018
Mark Collins reports lots of bass were in the shallows on Weiss Lake prior to the 30-degree nights, and are likely to be back there again with the warmup.

— frank sargeant, AL.com, "Friday Fishing Report," 12 Apr. 2018
The shallows, where the birds like to hunt, had already become hard to find.

— michael gordon, charlotteobserver, "Here's what Charlotte can expect from Alberto," 28 May 2018
The movie, which was originally called I’m in Love With the DJ, has a shallow, circa 2014 plot about Harper neglecting work responsibilities for a hot EDM DJ (Richard Madden).

— carly mallenbaum, USA TODAY, "Netflix's 'Ibiza' should do for Vanessa Bayer what 'Girls Trip' did for Tiffany Haddish," 25 May 2018
Bass fishing is improving with the fish in the shallows from 5 to 15 feet with swimbaits including the River2Sea Swaver.

— sacbee, "Fishing line: Striper action takes off near Colusa and on Feather River | The Sacramento Bee," 23 Apr. 2018
In the shallows, fish dart in and out of the shadows.

— peter marteka, courant.com, "Hikers, Are You Up To The Challenge Of These 14 Trails?," 15 May 2018
But Poirier excels on a different level, going just beyond the shallows without venturing into the depths.

— lauren elkin, New York Times, "Eavesdropping on Beauvoir, Sartre and Their Circle of Friends," 4 May 2018

First Known Use of shallow

1569

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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shallow Synonyms

Synonyms

ford, shoal;

Near Antonyms

trench;

abyss, deep, depth, gulf;

Related Words

bank, bar, sandbank, sandbar, towhead;

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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shallowly

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shallow Synonyms

Synonyms

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shallow

Definition of shallow

Recent Examples of shallow from the Web

First Known Use of shallow

shallow

Definition of shallow

Examples of shallow in a Sentence

Recent Examples of shallow from the Web

First Known Use of shallow

shallow Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Other Geology Terms

SHALLOW Defined for English Language Learners

shallow

Definition of shallow for English Language Learners

SHALLOW Defined for Kids

shallow

Definition of shallow for Students

shallowness

shallow

Definition of shallow for Students

Medical Dictionary

shallow

medical Definition of shallow

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