vanishingly
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vanishingly small
Extremely small, slight, or insignificant; so little that it is hardly perceptible or relevant. It is almost always used in the combination 'verschwindend gering' (vanishingly small/negligible) or 'verschwindend klein' (vanishingly small).
Die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines solchen Zufalls ist verschwindend gering.
The probability of such a coincidence is vanishingly small.
'Verschwindend' is the present participle of the verb 'verschwinden' (to disappear). The logic behind it is that an amount or size is so small that, figuratively speaking, it almost disappears.
Der Anteil der fehlerhaften Produkte ist verschwindend.
The proportion of defective products is vanishingly small.
This word is used almost exclusively as an adverb to intensify adjectives like 'gering' (small/slight) or 'klein' (small). The fixed collocations are 'verschwindend gering' (vanishingly small/negligible) and 'verschwindend klein' (vanishingly small).
Sein Beitrag zum Projekt war verschwindend klein.
His contribution to the project was vanishingly small.
The expression 'verschwindend gering/klein' (vanishingly small) belongs to a rather formal, factual, or scientific style. It expresses in an objective way that something is extremely insignificant.
Die statistische Relevanz dieser Daten ist verschwindend gering.
The statistical relevance of this data is vanishingly small.
considerable
'erheblich' and 'verschwindend' both describe how large or important something is. But they are clearly opposites. You use 'erheblich' when a difference, damage, or amount is large and important. 'verschwindend' means that something is extremely small or almost unimportant. 'verschwindend' sounds especially natural in fixed combinations like 'verschwindend gering' (vanishingly small / negligible) or 'verschwindend klein' (vanishingly small). A simple guide is: 'erheblich' means clearly a lot; 'verschwindend gering' means almost nothing.
Das Risiko ist bei dieser Behandlung verschwindend gering.
The risk with this treatment is vanishingly small.
Die Reparatur war erheblich teurer als geplant.
The repair was considerably more expensive than planned.