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

• cadaverous
• gaunt
• haggard
• skeletal
• wasted

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

To prepare for the scene in which Neo wakes up in a pod, Keanu Reeves lost fifteen pounds and shaved his whole body to give Neo an emaciated look. —Andy Meek, BGR, 16 Dec. 2021

As a result, Barry’s trip to the past creates not just problems for himself, but a radically different DC Universe, one in which Thomas Wayne became Batman after the death of his young son Bruce, and in which an emaciated Superman lives hidden in a government lab. —Joe George, Men's Health, 15 June 2023

As Taymia, who has a double heart defect, grew weak and emaciated, lawyers and human rights groups took up her cause. —Ben Hubbard, BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2020

Last year, Haiti’s government released more than 70 inmates convicted of minor offenses after several videos posted on social media showed emaciated prisoners. —DÁnica Coto, ajc, 8 June 2023

In 2005, the Montana Meth Project launched a multimedia blitz of grotesque ads featuring emaciated, thieving, unhinged youth whose bodies were marred by lesions and mouths were full of crumbling teeth. —Stacey McKenna, STAT, 11 May 2023

The ring was carried down the aisle by Hugo, a pig that Mr. Marttila and Ms. Shaw rescued as an emaciated newborn from behind a taco stand in Los Angeles. —Shannon Sims, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2023

Herds teeming with emaciated horses, some with hides marred by open wounds and lacerations, nosing for something to eat amid rocks and brush, breeding and in-breeding indiscriminately. —Krista Stevens, Longreads, 11 Apr. 2023

The body of a hiker missing since March 16 was found Thursday in a city park and his dog was still there at his side, alive but emaciated, reports say. —Cliff Pinckard, cleveland, 3 Apr. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1627, in the meaning defined above