slim chance
10
3.4
- noun
:
posibilidad remota
- At least there might be a slim chance this economic disaster waiting to happen will wake someone up.
If he fights removal, the process could take up to a year or more of hearings and appeals, with a slim chance of success.
- If he fights removal, the process could take up to a year or more of hearings and appeals, with a slim chance of success.
Examples
-
All we have now is the slim chance of a job at my uncle's paint factory in Cleveland.
-
Both experts here give the whales a slim chance of survival.
-
A Big Ten team has a slim chance at the Associated Press national title.
Blog text (19) -
If by any slim chance they would be read, they would not be tried.
Blog text (29) -
I think there is only a slim chance of that happening right out of the gate...
Blog text (18) -
Slim chance of getting there in one piece.
-
According to Sec. documentation, there is a slim chance that the unemployment rate will increase.
Blog text (16) -
There's a slim chance we'll survive.
-
I think we should be spending our time trying to devise a plan, not lower our already slim chances of survival.
-
There's a slim chance we'll survive the storm if it intensifies.
Synonyms
58
4.6
An unlikely attempt that is still worth trying
6
3.5
A very small possibility that something will happen
2
8.1
A way to say something is very unlikely to happen
A very small hope of success
Antonyms
How Likely
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a very small possibility' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'slim' (small in amount/degree) with 'chance' (likelihood). This adjective + noun compositional pattern is common in English and cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Slim chance comes from the image of something very thin: slim means narrow or small and chance means a possibility. Imagine a tiny, narrow path to success that is hard to use. That's why slim chance means 'a very small possibility'.