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skim

verb · noun · adjective

Simple meaning

To read quickly or describe summarily, skipping some detail.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

skim
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈskɪm

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To read quickly or describe summarily, skipping some detail.

  2. Read superficially

  3. Move or pass swiftly and lightly over the surface of

  4. intransitive

    To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.

  5. transitive

    To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.

  6. To hasten along with superficial attention.

noun

  1. A cursory reading, skipping the details.

  2. The act of skimming.

  3. That which is skimmed off.

  4. Theft of money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.

  5. informal

    Skim milk.

adjective

  1. of milk

    Having lowered fat content.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To read quickly or describe summarily, skipping some detail.

Used this way, skim is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • skim over , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use skim

  • “There was a thin skim of oil on the water.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Move / pass

skim milk

Become

skim coat

Other combinations

skim throughcup skimskim alongskim mozzarellaskim ricotta

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • skimmernounInflected form

    A rapid superficial reader.

  • skimmingnounInflected form

    The act of removing floating material from the surface of a liquid.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • skimmed milknounCompound term

    Milk from which the cream has been skimmed.

  • skim milknounCompound term

    Milk from which the cream has been skimmed.

  • skim offverbCompound term

    Remove from the surface.

  • skim oververbCompound term

    Read superficially.

  • semi-skimmed milknounCompound term

    Milk from which some of the cream has been removed.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to read quickly or describe summarily

skim overRare

noun

Sense: cursory reading or skipping the details

scan

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.