Slender means thin in a graceful or attractive way. A slender birch tree bends elegantly in the wind. A ballet dancer might have slender arms and legs that move with flowing precision. The word suggests thinness combined with beauty or delicacy, rather than just being skinny.

You can describe objects as slender too: a slender candle, a slender sword blade, or the slender neck of a violin. The word often appears when describing something that's both thin and refined or elegant.

Slender can also mean small in amount or barely enough. A team might win by a slender margin of just one point. A detective might solve a case based on slender evidence, meaning very little information. Someone living on a slender income doesn't have much money to spare. In these cases, slender suggests something narrow or limited, like a slender thread connecting two ideas or a slender hope that something good might still happen.