scrawny

/ˈskrɔni/

/ˈskrɔni/

Other forms: scrawniest; scrawnier

Scrawny is an insulting way to describe someone who's very thin and weak. You might be surprised by how lifting weights transformed your scrawny teammate to a muscular athlete by the end of the season.

The adjective scrawny can describe a small, underweight body but it can also describe anything that's not very big or well-made — a scrawny tree that never gets any taller or fuller or a scrawny audience that disappoints the band because they were expecting a sold-out concert. Scrawny may have come from the Old Norse word skraelna, to shrivel.

Definitions of scrawny

1. adjective

   being very thin
   “a long scrawny neck”

   synonyms: boney, scraggy, skinny, underweight, weedy

   lean, thin

   lacking excess flesh
2. adjective

   inferior in size or quality
   “scrawny cattle”

   synonyms: scrubby, stunted

   inferior

   of low or inferior quality