emaciated

adjective

ema·​ci·​at·​ed i-ˈmā-shē-ˌā-təd  -ˈmā-sē- 

: very thin and feeble especially from lack of nutrition or illness

He was deadly pale and terribly emaciated, with the protruding, brilliant eyes of a man whose spirit was greater than his strength.

—Arthur Conan Doyle

My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.

—Mary Shelley

Synonyms of emaciated

• gaunt
• haggard
• skeletal

Examples of emaciated in a Sentence

the emaciated bodies of the survivors of the concentration camps

Recent Examples on the Web

The boys, 14-year-old twins, were found emaciated — with one child weighing 54 pounds and the other just 51 pounds — after multiple anonymous complaints led a child abuse specialist with the Administration for Children’s Services to their mother’s Mosholu Ave. —Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 24 Jan. 2026

An injured and emaciated dog was found abandoned in East Hartford in the cold on Friday morning. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 23 Jan. 2026

One emaciated horse died and another three were euthanized. —Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026

The dog was found emaciated and without access to food or water by animal control officers. —Jack Perry, The Providence Journal, 15 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1627, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for emaciated

• abbreviated
• accelerated
• accentuated
• accommodated
• acculturated
• accumulated
• acidulated
• adjudicated
• administrated
• adulterated
• affiliated
• agglomerated