narrow
English · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
narrow¹
- /ˈnæɹəʊ/ UK
- /ˈnæɹoʊ/ US
- /ˈnɛɹoʊ/ US
- /ˈnaɾo/ Scotland
- /ˈnaɾou/ Wales
Rhymes with -æɹəʊ
Where it comes from
From Middle English narow, narowe, narewe, narwe, naru, from Old English nearu (“narrow, strait, confined, constricted, not spacious, limited, petty; limited, poor, restricted; oppressive, causing anxiety (of that which restricts free action of body or mind), causing or accompanied by difficulty, hardship, oppressive; oppressed, not having free action; strict, severe”), from Proto-West Germanic *naru, from Proto-Germanic *narwaz (“constricted, narrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ner- (“to turn, bend, twist, constrict”).
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian naar, noar, noor, nåår (“narrow”), Saterland Frisian noar (“narrow”), Dutch naar (“nasty, scary; sickening, unpleasant”), Danish and Swedish nor (“narrow strait”); also Sanskrit नृत् (nṛt, “to dance; act on stage, represent”).
adjective narrower · narrowest · narrowe
- Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth. a narrow hallway
- Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed. The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world.
- Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude. a narrow interpretation
- Contracted; of limited scope; bigoted. a narrow mind
- Having a small margin or degree. a narrow escape
- Limited as to means; straitened narrow circumstances
- Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish. a very narrow […] and stinted charity
- Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact. But first with narrow search I must walk round / This garden, and no corner leave unspied.
- Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished from wide.
-
Of or supporting only those text characters that can fit into the traditional 8-bit representation.
a narrow character; a narrow stream
Opposite: wide
Similar: close, filamentous, fine, narrow, slender, slim, strait, thin, tight · Opposite: wide, broad
noun narrows · narrowe
- A narrow passage, especially a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water. the narrows of New York harbor
narrow²
- /ˈnæɹəʊ/ UK
- /ˈnæɹoʊ/ US
- /ˈnɛɹoʊ/ US
- /ˈnaɾo/ Scotland
- /ˈnaɾou/ Wales
Rhymes with -æɹəʊ
Where it comes from
From Middle English narwen (“to narrow”); see there for more details, but ultimately derived from the noun.
verb narrows · narrowing · narrowed · narrowe
- To reduce in width or extent; to contract. We need to narrow the search.
- To get narrower. The road narrows.
- To partially lower one's eyelids in a way usually taken to suggest a defensive, aggressive or penetrating look. He stepped in front of me, narrowing his eyes to slits.
- To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.
-
To convert to a data type that cannot hold as many distinct values.
to narrow an int variable to a short variable
Opposite: widen
Similar: taper
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: strait, tapered, tapering, thin, constrictive, constringe, constrict, slender, limited, small, little, petty, small-minded, narrow-minded, close-minded, closed-minded
adjective
Similar: close, filamentous, fine, narrow, slender, slim, strait, thin, tight · Opposite: wide, broad
verb
Similar: taper
Translations
Every language
adj having small width
| Español | estrecho, angosto |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 좁은 jobeun, 좁다 jopda |
| 日本語 | 狭い semai |
| 中文 | 窄 zhǎi |
| हिन्दी | संकुचित saṅkucit, संकीर्ण saṅkīrṇ, तंग taṅg |
| Português | estreito, estreita |
| Français | étroit |
| Deutsch | eng, begrenzt, schmal |
| Italiano | stretto, angusto |
| Ελληνικά | στενός stenós |
| Română | strâmt, îngust |
| Русский | у́зкий úzkij, те́сный tésnyj |
| Tiếng Việt | hẹp, chật hẹp, eo hẹp, chật |
| العربية | ضَيِّق ḍayyiq |
| עברית | צר tsar |
adj restrictive; without flexibility or latitude
| Deutsch | beschränkt, unflexibel |
|---|
verb to reduce in width or extent
| Español | estrechar, angostar |
|---|---|
| Português | estreitar |
| Français | réduire, rétrécir |
| Deutsch | verengen, einschränken, beschränken |
| Ελληνικά | στενεύω stenévo |
| Română | îngusta |
| Русский | сужа́ть sužátʹ, су́зить súzitʹ |
verb to get narrower
| Español | estrecharse |
|---|---|
| Português | estreitar-se |
| Deutsch | sich verengen |
| Ελληνικά | στενεύω stenévo |
| Русский | сужа́ться sužátʹsja, су́зиться súzitʹsja |
Talk about this word "narrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/narrow. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. narrow. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/narrow "narrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/narrow.Cite this
@misc{narrow_2026,
title = {narrow},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/narrow},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
