✨📕 The NEWThe NEW Collegiate Dictionary, 12th Edition Over 5,000 words added — Buy Now! Collegiate DictionaryBuy Now!

slim pickings

idiom

informal
: very few good things to choose from
It was slim pickings on the last day of the sale.

Examples of slim pickings in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Waiting until the day before could mean slim pickings. Rey Covarrubias Jr, AZCentral.com, 21 Nov. 2025 Gibbon started his research by reading about the famous Irish family as there was slim pickings for visual references apart from a few paintings and photographs. Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 26 Sep. 2025 But among the slim pickings, Mateus Mane has emerged as a forward who is highly rated by both academy staff and head coach Vitor Pereira. The Athletic Uk Staff, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2025 Mitch Marner, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad are off the board, leaving slim pickings in NHL free agency. Stephen Whyno, Chicago Tribune, 1 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for slim pickings

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Slim pickings.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slim%20pickings. Accessed 4 Dec. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!