skinny
/ˈskɪni
/adjective (skinnier, skinniest)
1(Of a person or part of their body) unattractively thin: his skinny arms...
- I was a skinny kid, not athletic or anything, but I wanted to go to the parties with the football players and stuff.
- These are the concerns that skinny people never have to think about.
- She sees skinny people on TV and in magazines and wants to look like them, but getting there is beyond her.
Synonyms
thin, scrawny, scraggy, bony, angular, raw-boned, hollow-cheeked, gaunt, as thin as a rake, skin-and-bones, stick-like, size-zero, emaciated, skeletal, pinched, undernourished, underfed;
slim, lean, slender, rangy;
lanky, spindly, gangly, gangling, gawky
informal looking like a bag of bones, anorexic, anorectic
dated spindle-shanked
rare starveling, macilent
2(Of a garment) tight-fitting: a skinny jumper...
- I mean, we all love the polo shirt for being the epitome of preppiness, but one can only have so many skinny polo shirts in multiple colors right?
- According to Baker, too much sodium can make your skinny skirts trickier to zip up, especially in the week prior to menstruation.
- His garments of choice are skinny white T-shirts with a stripe of red paint across, and cute indie-boy fringes.
2.1(Of a pair of jeans or trousers) tight-fitting and with very narrow legs: in the winter I live in skinny jeans and boots I love jeans—either bootcut or skinny a pair of skinny cords...
- The really big shock is how little goes with skinny jeans.
- Q. I'm trying to find a pair of skinny jeans to tuck into a pair of cool boots I have.
- Personally, I think the best way to wear skinny jeans is to pair them with long shirts or short shift dresses.
3 informal (Of coffee) made with skimmed or semi-skimmed milk: one skinny latte to go, please...
- Ultimately, Jessica's relationship dilemma feels about as agonising as choosing between a skinny decaf latte and a grande mochaccino.
- Or just grab a skinny cappuccino or latte for a low-calorie warm drink.
- Some of us even want a skinny mocha decaff latte with a twist.
noun (plural skinnies) informal
1A skinny person.You "skinnies" may not understand the full scope of what's happened here....
- The problem is that skinnies aren't considered "real" women.
- Only once did I hear a soldier make a disparaging remark (young and stupid, he referred to the undernourished locals as "the skinnies").
2 (skinnies) A pair of skinny jeans or trousers: if you’re tired of squeezing into your skinnies, bell-bottoms and flares are back in fashion...
- The weather today is absolutely glorious and I thought I'd take the opportunity to debut my new Topshop skinnies and sunglasses.
- They were selling jeans really cheap as well, but I could only find skinnies.
- How dim was I to think my skinnies would go with last autumn's shrunken tweed jacket?
3 (the skinny) US Confidential information on a particular person or topic: net managers who want the skinny on the latest in computer security...
- You must possess a wonderful memory, not only for statistics and the inside skinny, but also for anecdotes.
- For those of you with regular jobs, here's the skinny.
- Here is the skinny on the matter from the Guardian.
Derivatives
skinniness
- Thin girls can be ugly; fat girls can be beautiful - but fat is not attractive in itself, any more than skinniness is.
- I'm allergic to the fashionable notion that skinniness is next to godliness.
- I don't think it did anything but emphasize my skinniness.