scrawny
/ˈskrɔːni
/adjective (scrawnier, scrawniest)
1(Of a person or animal) unattractively thin and bony: he had a scrawny physique and a protuberant Adam’s apple she was small and scrawny and the sinews in her neck stood out...
- Inside the gas station, Tom talks to George, who is a thin, blond-haired, scrawny fellow.
- She was scrawny, dangerously thin some said, and stiff, as though her bones ached.
- He left the office and road hard for a while before arriving at a ranch, where he was greeted by a tall and scrawny man with a long, thin mustache.
Synonyms
skinny, thin, thin as a rake, skin-and-bones, gaunt, bony, size-zero, angular, gawky, scraggy, rangy, raw-boned, skeletal, emaciated, pinched;
lean, slim, slender, lanky, spindly, gangly, gangling
dated spindle-shanked
1.1(Of vegetation) meagre or stunted: straggly trees and occasional tufts of scrawny grass...
- They lie on pavements, sheltering from the sun under scrawny trees.
- Unable to find it she sank down and sat on the ground with her back against two scrawny trees.
Derivatives
scrawniness
- I must say, despite his scrawniness, Solastian is very strong… and perceptive.
- Her shoulders, her bosom do not have that scrawniness characteristic of female dancers whose whole weight seems to have descended into their legs.
Origin
Mid 19th century: variant of dialect scranny; compare with archaic scrannel 'weak, feeble' (referring to sound).