lean

lean, spare, lank, lanky, gaunt, rawboned, scrawny, skinny mean thin because of an absence of excess flesh. lean stresses lack of fat and of curving contours.

• • a lean racehorse

spare suggests leanness from abstemious living or constant exercise.

• • the gymnast's spare figure

lank implies tallness as well as leanness.

• • the lank legs of the heron

lanky suggests awkwardness and loose-jointedness as well as thinness.

• • a lanky youth, all arms and legs

gaunt implies marked thinness or emaciation as from overwork or suffering.

• • a prisoner's gaunt face

rawboned suggests a large ungainly build without implying undernourishment.

• • a rawboned farmer

scrawny and skinny imply an extreme leanness that suggests deficient strength and vitality.

• • a scrawny chicken
• • skinny street urchins

lean, thin, skinny mean not having a great amount of flesh. lean is used of a lack of unnecessary flesh and may also be used for the tough, muscular frame of an athlete.

• • He has the lean body of a runner.

thin can describe a person having not much flesh or fat and often having an amount less than is desirable for good health.

• • She's a thin and sickly child.

skinny suggests a bony, noticeably thin appearance that may indicate poor nourishment.

• • We found a skinny stray cat.