scrawny
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
A variant of dialectal scranny (“thin; lean; scraggy; poor; scanty; of inferior quality”), perhaps from Old Norse skran (“rubbish; junk”) + -y. Compare Norwegian skran (“lean, thin, skinny”), English scrannel (“lean; meager; poor; worthless”).
Alternatively, perhaps from Old Norse skrælna (“to be shrivelled”).[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɔːni/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɔni/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɑni/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːni
Adjective[edit]
scrawny (comparative scrawnier, superlative scrawniest)
- Thin, malnourished, and weak.
- 1992, Robert Jordan, “Chapter 31: Assurances”, in The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time; 4), London: Orbit Books, published 2021, →ISBN, page 498:
- “Tell him, in these words, that I will have his scrawny bones before me now. Tell him, Byar, and bring him if you must arrest him and those filthy wretches who disgrace the Children. Go.”
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:scrawny
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
thin, malnourished and weak
References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “scrawny”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.