Definitions for shallow
ˈʃæl oʊshal·low

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. shoal, shallowadjective

   a stretch of shallow water

2. shallowadjective

   lacking physical depth; having little spatial extension downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or outward from a center

   "shallow water"; "a shallow dish"; "a shallow cut"; "a shallow closet"; "established a shallow beachhead"; "hit the ball to shallow left field"

3. shallowadjective

   not deep or strong; not affecting one deeply

   "shallow breathing"; "a night of shallow fretful sleep"; "in a shallow trance"

4. shallowverb

   lacking depth of intellect or knowledge; concerned only with what is obvious

   "shallow people"; "his arguments seemed shallow and tedious"

5. shallow, shoalverb

   make shallow

   "The silt shallowed the canal"

6. shallow, shoalverb

   become shallow

   "the lake shallowed over time"

Wiktionary(4.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. shallownoun

   A shallow portion of an otherwise deep body of water.

   The ship ran aground in an unexpected shallow.

2. shallowverb

   To make or become less deep

3. shallowadjective

   Having little depth; significantly less deep than wide.

4. shallowadjective

   Extending not far downward.

   The water is shallow here

5. shallowadjective

   Concerned mainly with superficial matters.

   It was a glamorous but shallow lifestyle

6. shallowadjective

   Lacking interest or substance.

   The acting is good, but the characters are shallow

7. Etymology: Origin uncertain; apparently related to sceald.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Shallowadjective

   Etymology: This word is probably compounded of shoal and low.

   1. Not deep; having the bottom at no great distance from the surface or edge.

   I had been drowned, but that the shore was shelvy and shallow; a death that I abhor. William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Winds.

   That inundation, though it were shallow, had a long continuance, whereby they of the vale, that were not drowned, perished for want of food. Francis Bacon.

   The like opinion he held of Meotis Palus, that by the floods of Tanais, and earth brought down thereby, it grew observably shallower in his days, and would in process of time become a firm land. Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errours.

   I am made a shallow forded stream,
   Seen to the bottom: all my clearness scorn’d,
   And all my faults expos’d. John Dryden, All for Love.

   Shallow brooks, that flow’d so clear,
   The bottom did the top appear. Dryden.

   In shallow furrows vines securely grow. Dryden.

   2. Not intellectually deep; not profound; not very knowing or wise; empty; trifling; futile; silly.

   I’ll shew my mind,
   According to my shallow simple skill. William Shakespeare.

   This is a very shallow monster:
   Afraid of him? A very shallow monster,
   The man i’ th’ moon! A most poor credulous monster. William Shakespeare.

   The king was neither so shallow nor so ill advertised as not to perceive the intention of the French king, for the investing himself of Britaigne. Francis Bacon, Henry VII.

   Uncertain and unsettled he remains,
   Deep verst in books, and shallow in himself. John Milton.

   One would no more wonder to see the most shallow nation of Europe the most vain, than to find the most empty fellows in every nation more conceited than the rest. Addison.

   3. Not deep of sound.

   If a virginal were made with a double concave, the one all the length of the virginal, and the other at the end of the strings, as the harp hath, it must make the sound perfecter, and not so shallow and jarring. Francis Bacon.

2. Shallownoun

   A shelf; a sand; a flat; a shoal; a place where the water is not deep.

   Etymology: from the adjective.

   I should not see the sandy hour-glass run,
   But I should think of shallows and of flats;
   And see my wealthy Andrew dock’d in sand,
   Veiling her high top lower than her ribs,
   To kiss her burial. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   A swift stream is not heard in the channel, but upon shallows of gravel. Francis Bacon, Nat. History.

   Having but newly left those grammatick flats and shallows, where they stuck unreasonably, to learn a few words with lamentable construction, and now on the sudden transported, to be tost with their unballasted wits in fathomless and unquiet deeps of controversy, they do grow into hatred of learning. John Milton.

   You that so oft have sounded
   And fathom’d all his thoughts, that know the deeps
   And shallows of his heart, should need no instruments
   To advance your ends. John Denham.

   In arms of the sea, and among islands, there is no great depth, and some places are plain shallows. Burnet.

   He sounds and fathoms him, to find
   The shallows of his soul. John Dryden, Spanish Fryar.

   The wary Dutch
   Behind their treach’rous shallows now withdraw,
   And there lay snares to catch the British host. Dryden.

   Three more fierce Eurus in his angry mood
   Dash’d on the shallows of the moving sand,
   And in mid ocean left them moor’d a-land. John Dryden, Æn.

   Their spawn being lighter than the water, there it would not sink to the bottom, but be buoyed up by it, and carried away to the shallows. John Ray, on the Creation.

   With the use of diligence, and prudent conduct, he may decline both rocks and shallows. John Norris.

   The sea could not be much narrower than it is, without a great loss to the world; and must we now have an ocean of mere flats and shallows, to the utter ruin of navigation? Richard Bentley.

Webster Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Shallow

   not deep; having little depth; shoal

2. Shallow

   not deep in tone

3. Shallow

   not intellectually deep; not profound; not penetrating deeply; simple; not wise or knowing; ignorant; superficial; as, a shallow mind; shallow learning

4. Shallownoun

   a place in a body of water where the water is not deep; a shoal; a flat; a shelf

5. Shallownoun

   the rudd

6. Shallowverb

   to make shallow

7. Shallowverb

   to become shallow, as water

8. Etymology: [OE. schalowe, probably originally, sloping or shelving; cf. Icel. skjlgr wry, squinting, AS. sceolh, D. & G. scheel, OHG. schelah. Cf. Shelve to slope, Shoal shallow.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Shallow

   shal′ō, n. a sandbank: a place over which the water is not deep: a shoal.—adj. not deep: not profound: not wise: trifling.—v.t. to make shallow.—v.i. to grow shallow.—adjs. Shall′ow-brained, -pā′ted, weak in intellect; Shall′ow-heart′ed, not capable of deep feelings.—adv. Shall′owly (Shak.), simply, foolishly.—n. Shall′owness. [Scand., Ice. skjálgr, wry; cf. Ger. scheel.]

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. shallow

   Song lyrics by shallow -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by shallow on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Change

British National Corpus

1. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'shallow' in Adjectives Frequency: #757

Anagrams for shallow »

1. hallows

How to pronounce shallow?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

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   Mark

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   Daniel

   British

   Libby

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   Mia

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   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

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   Natasha

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   Veena

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   Priya

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   Neerja

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   Zira

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   Oliver

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   Wendy

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   Fred

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   Tessa

   South African

How to say shallow in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of shallow in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of shallow in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of shallow in a Sentence

1. John Boyd Jr.:

   The Cuban ports, including Havana, are all too shallow to accommodate the large modern ships of major cruise lines, also, some Cuban ports are inland, necessitating negotiating unmapped, narrow channels ….

2. H.W. Mann:

   Judging someone without knowing their life experience, without knowing their pain, by their physical appearance, by their social status, from your own belief system, from other people’s gossip, is a very shallow view, and a very shallow opinion.

3. Adam Sarhan:

   And so far, this appears to be another healthy and shallow pullback in both size and scope.

4. Sophocles:

   Surely, to think your own the only wisdom, and yours the only word, the only will, betrays a shallow spirit, an empty heart.

5. Heather Lydia Thornhill:

   Giah is like the vine that allows us to grape. We are not even the root but Giah has roots and chooses where they drink so that we can flower into a vineyard. But Giah is also a grape to our vine because Giah cannot be our being because however beautiful our vineyard grows our roots are too shallow to support her. That is why we need to work on our thoughts and ascend her roots to reach the wine that quenches us and sore on her through endless time.

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