shallow
adjective
shal·low
| \ ˈsha-(ˌ)lō
\
\
Definition of shallow
(Entry 1 of 3)
1
: having little depth
shallow water
2
: having little extension inward or backward
office buildings have taken the form of shallow slabs— Lewis Mumford
3a
: 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
shallow
verb
shallowed;
shallowing;
shallows
Definition of shallow (Entry 2 of 3)
: to make shallow
: to become shallow
shallow
nounDefinition of shallow (Entry 3 of 3)
: a shallow place or area in a body of water
—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction
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Other Words from shallow
Adjective
shallowly
\ ˈsha-lō-lē
, -lə-lē \
adverb
, -lə-lē \
adverb
shallowness
noun
Synonyms & Antonyms for shallow
Synonyms: Adjective
Synonyms: Noun
Antonyms: Adjective
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Examples of shallow in a Sentence
Adjective
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.Noun
we waded through the shallows looking for tadpoles
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
It is set in a shallow-water cove, with rentals available. — Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, "5 spots to beat the heat in Sacramento," 21 Aug. 2019 Avoid getting water shot up your nose when swimming, especially in warm shallow water. — Madeline Mitchell, Cincinnati.com, "Sewage breach fixed at Little Miami River," 16 Aug. 2019 Signs have been posted at the beach to warn beachgoers about the recent shark presence in the shallow waters. — Ryan Prior, CNN, "A surfer in Hawaii survives after a shark bites a chunk out of his surfboard," 14 Aug. 2019 The most well-studied among them is the use of green fluorescent protein, which can make neon rainbows out of jellyfish, corals and other animals in shallower depths. — Joanna Klein, New York Times, "How Sharks Glow to Each Other Deep in the Ocean," 8 Aug. 2019 Its shallow depths seem to mock signs warning people of the danger of drowning. — Los Angeles Times, "Migrants say El Paso shooting won’t deter them from seeking new lives in the U.S.," 6 Aug. 2019 The quake, measured at magnitude 7.0 by Indonesian authorities and a still-powerful 6.9 by the U.S. Geological Survey, struck early Sunday evening at a fairly shallow depth of 10.5 kilometers (6 miles) in the northern part of Lombok. — Fox News, "At least 91 dead after quake rocks Indonesian tourist island," 6 Aug. 2018 The quake, measured at magnitude 7.0 by Indonesian authorities and a still-powerful 6.9 by the U.S. Geological Survey, struck early Sunday evening at a fairly shallow depth of 10.5 kilometers (6 miles) in the northern part of Lombok. — Ros Idin, The Seattle Times, "At least 91 dead after quake rocks Indonesian tourist island," 6 Aug. 2018 But three innings later, Matt Adams hit a high fly to shallow center that Pillar would seem to catch 100 out of 100 times. — John Shea, SFChronicle.com, "San Francisco Giants put up little fight, lose to Nationals 4-0," 6 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The dugout empties, the rest of the team stampedes to shallow left field to find the hero and hug him or tackle him or tear at his jersey. — Los Angeles Times, "Column: Electrifying walk-off wins are how these Dodgers roll," 7 Aug. 2019 Pinch-hitter Ryan Braun flied out to shallow right but Tyler Saladino walked to load the bases. — Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Brewers 8, Reds 6: Christian Yelich becomes first player in club history with 30 HRs before break," 1 July 2019 The nearshore shallows offered easy travels and a mix of aquatic plant life unfamiliar to us. — Colin Diltz, The Seattle Times, "Reader’s Lens | Paddling Lake Ozette," 11 Sep. 2018 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. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Rui paddled in the shallows, and built sand castles. — Jane Perlez, BostonGlobe.com, "At Mao’s beach, China’s leaders still make history as lifeguards hide from the sun," 22 Aug. 2019 Warner leads the group along the fringes of the river, sticking to the shallows and exploring shady channels between little islands and the mainland. — al, "Kayaking group offers ‘Monday therapy’ on Dog River," 7 Aug. 2019 Its shallows extend far from the shore, allowing bathers to wade hundreds of yards out. — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, "U.S. tourists drown as their children are rescued after being swept to sea," 7 Aug. 2019 But like that duck in the shallows, Monhegan is always churning beneath the surface. — Christopher Reynoldsstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, "Maine’s scenic Monhegan Island is a portrait of Brigadoon mixed with L.L. Bean," 25 July 2019 The cats in attendance weren't willing to stick even a nail into the shallows. — Peter Dawson, Houston Chronicle, "Cats and dogs grab surf boards, ride waves at Galveston Island Humane Society event," 23 July 2019 First, geopolitics is stoking a new push to send humans beyond the shallows of low-Earth orbit. — The Economist, "A new age of space exploration is beginning," 18 July 2019 Experts expect the water in this sunless subsurface reservoir to be the same temperature as the shallows of the Pacific Ocean. — Shannon Stirone, Scientific American, "New NASA Mission Will Fly Titan’s Frigid Skies to Search for Life’s Beginnings," 27 June 2019 Media outlets around the world published a now-iconic photo of the bodies of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, washed up in the shallows of the Rio Grande near Matamoros, Mexico. — Paul Farhi, Washington Post, "A searing photo of deaths at the border forces media outlets to decide: Publish or not?," 26 June 2019These 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.