THICK and THIN are very useful adjectives to have in your English vocabulary. This post will teach you how to use these adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms, plus you will learn 8 different ways to use these adjectives to describe books, forests, soups, smoke, and more.
The comparison of THIN is THINNER
“Dennis is thinner than Bradley.”
The superlative of THIN is THINNEST
“Leslie is the thinnest of my friends.”
The comparison of THICK is THICKER
“My black belt is thicker than my brown belt.”
The superlative of THICK is THICKEST
“It’s the thickest book in the library.”
This post has lots of example sentences to help you use these words in your own English conversations. Watch the video too and learn the correct pronunciation of THICK and THIN in all their forms.
Learn some useful idioms with THICK and THIN and some interesting facts too. PLUS Two fun infographics and a FREE PDF download.
Table of Contents
- Thick and Thin Comparative and Superlative (Video)
- Thick and Thin – meaning
- Thick and Thin Comparison and Superlative
- The Comparison forms of Thick and Thin
- The superlative forms of Thick and Thin
- Other uses for the adjectives THICK and THIN
- Thick Vs. Thin – 8 uses infographics
- Printable THICK and THIN 8-page PDF download
Thick and Thin Comparative and Superlative (Video)
Thick and Thin – meaning
Definitions from oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com
thick – adjective – having a larger distance between opposite sides or surfaces than other similar objects or than normal
thin – adjective – having a smaller distance between opposite sides or surfaces than other similar objects or than normal
- a thick book (= a book that has a lot of pages)
- a thin book (= a book that doesn’t have many pages)
Through thick and thin – no matter what happens, even when times are difficult
If you are together with someone through thick and thin it means that they can always depend on you, no matter what.
- “I’ll never leave your side sweetheart. I’ll stay with you through thick and thin.”
Thick and Thin Comparison and Superlative
One-Syllable Adjectives Comparison and Superlative RULES
All adjectives have a comparison form. Here is a Comparison GRAMMAR rule from my blog post >> Comparison grammar – Your #1 Guide (25 real examples + video)
For one-syllable adjectives, we add –er to the end of the adjective. *The adjectives THICK and THIN have one syllable.
| Adjective | Comparison | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| thick | thicker | thickest |
| thin | thinner | thinnest |
Some other examples of one-syllable adjectives: cheap – cheaper / small – smaller / high – higher
The Comparison forms of Thick and Thin
The comparison form of thick is thicker.
Examples with THICKER
- “My grey sweater is thicker than my blue one.”
- “The new iWatch is thicker than the older model.”
- “Wearing mascara can make your eyelashes look longer and thicker.”
Blood is thicker than water – the connection to your family will always be the strongest
- “My mother is sick in the hospital so I asked to leave work early. My boss said ‘no” so I quit. Blood is thicker than water.”
The comparison form of thin is thinner. (The comparison form is spelled with two “N’s”)
Examples with THINNER
- “Hi Steve. You look thinner. Did you lose weight?”
- “I saw Marshall last night for the first time in 3 years. His hair is getting thinner.”
- “Is it just me or is the local newspaper getting thinner every year.”
How to use – English grammar Superlatives (Most, best, biggest)
Here is a Superlative GRAMMAR rule from my blog post >> How to use English Superlatives (Your #1 guide, video, quiz)
For one-syllable adjectives, we add -est to the end of the adjective.
Some examples of one-syllable adjectives: cheap – cheapest / small – smallest / high – highest
The superlative forms of Thick and Thin
The superlative form of thick is thickest.
Examples with THICKEST
“My Orange sweater is the thickest of all my sweaters.”
“My wife and I really love that restaurant. They have the thickest steaks in town.”
“The forest was full of trees growing very close together. It was hard to walk through, especially in the thickest parts near the center.”
The thickest book in the world is 496 mm wide. It was published in 2020 by an Indian author named Gyanjivandasji Swami. LINK
The superlative form of thin is thinnest. (The superlative form also is spelled with two “N’s”)
Examples with THINNEST
- “I bought the thinnest laptop that the store had.”
- “Smartphones keep getting thinner. Soon they will be as thin as a credit card!”
- “I can’t believe how much weight Walter gained when I saw him at the class reunion. He was always the thinnest guy in class. What happened?”
The Steinway Tower is an 84-story residential building in New York City that holds the world record for being the thinnest building in the world. LINK
*Residential means a place for people to live. Not offices, stores, or factories.
Other uses for the adjectives THICK and THIN
I was teaching a private lesson to a student in January and we were talking about good winter food. I said that I liked to have thick sweet potato soup on a cold day. A nice bowl of soup can warm up your whole body.
This was the first time my student had heard the adjective thick used to describe a liquid.
There are actually several different ways to use the adjectives thick and thin. I’ll explain the different uses and meanings in this post with lots of examples. Comparative and Superlative examples too!
| Thick – adjective | Thin – adjective |
|---|---|
| thick – having a larger distance between opposite sides or surfaces than other similar objects or than normal | thin – having a smaller distance between opposite sides or surfaces than other similar objects or than normal |
| “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a thick book, it has more than 630 pages.” | “A thin book is good for a short train ride. I can finish the book before my trip is over.” |
| For hair/fur/trees – growing closely together in large numbers | For hair – not growing closely together or in large amounts |
| “There was a thick forest behind my family cottage. I used to play there with my brother.” | “As he got older Phillip gained weight and his hair got thin.” |
| For liquid – not flowing very easily | For liquid – containing more liquid than is normal or expected |
| “I like to eat cream soup in the winter. A hot, thick soup warms up your body.” | “My sister likes thin gravy with turkey, but I think the flavor is too weak.” |
| For fog/smoke/air – difficult to see through; difficult to breathe in | For the air – containing less oxygen than normal |
| “The fog was very thick. We pulled over at the next gas station to wait for the fog to clear.” | “As you climb higher the air becomes thinner and it’s hard to breathe.” |
Examples of Thick and Thin
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a thick book, it has more than 630 pages.
- A thin book is good for a short train ride. I can finish the book before my trip is over.
- At school, I always chose the thinnest book in the library for my book reports.
We often use thick and thin to talk about clothes.
- It’s warm today, you don’t need to wear a thick sweater. Choose something thinner, it will be more comfortable.
- This tee shirt is getting thin, time to buy a new one.
*After wearing and washing your clothes for a long time the material becomes thinner than when the clothes were new.
On thin ice – If someone is on thin ice they are very close to danger
- “After the scandal, the politician was on thin ice with the people in his community.”
Thick for hair/fur/trees = growing closely together in large numbers
- He had the thickest eyebrows I had ever seen!
- The hikers got lost in the thick forest.
- As they walked further into the woods the plants and trees grew thicker.
Have thick skin – Someone has thick skin they’re not bothered by the negative opinions or criticism of other people
- “People can say whatever they want, it doesn’t bother me. I have thick skin.”
Thin for hair = not growing closely together or in large amounts
- As Kyle got older his hair got thinner.
We can also say someone’s hair is “thinning“ - He has been thinning since he was 21.
Thick for liquid = not flowing very easily
- I like to eat thick pumpkin soup in the winter.
- The mud was very thick after the heavy rain. It was hard to walk through. It was much thicker than yesterday.
- The mud is always thickest after the rainy season. It’s best to avoid unpaved roads until the ground becomes drier.
Thin for liquid = containing more liquid than is normal or expected
- This pasta sauce is very thin, it doesn’t have much flavor.
- To make your gravy thinner you should add more water and use less fat and cornstarch.
Thick for fog/smoke/air = difficult to see through; difficult to breathe in
- The plane crashed in the thick fog.
- Firefighters use oxygen masks when they battle fires. This is because of the thick smoke caused by burning buildings.
- It was the thickest smoke they had ever seen.
Thin for the air = containing less oxygen than normal
- The air is thin at high altitudes. Mountain climbers need to carry heavy oxygen tanks to climb high mountains.
- The higher you climb the thinner the air becomes. The air is thinnest at the very top.
Other word forms made from THICK and THIN
The adjective thick can become the verb thicken if we add the suffix EN
thicken verb to become thicker; to make something thicker
- Adding more flour will thicken the stew.
How to use the suffix EN (Increase vocabulary + VIDEO)
Thinner can also be a noun that means – a substance that is added to paint, varnish, etc. to make it less thick
- I use paint thinner to clean my paint brushes.
The noun thinner is usually used with paint. You can get paint thinner at any hardware store, it’s a common product used to clean up after painting.
Thick Vs. Thin – 8 uses infographics
Infographic #1
Infographic #2
Printable THICK and THIN 8-page PDF download
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