Synonyms of rawboned

rawboned

adjective

as in angular

having a prominent and often large or rugged bone structure

The cowboy was tall and rawboned.

Related Words

• angular
• slender
• skinny
• lean
• bony
• thin
• slim
• wiry
• gaunt
• sinewy
• big-boned
• scrawny
• trim
• skeletal
• svelte
• willowy
• lithe
• haggard
• lanky
• scraggy
• clean-limbed
• gangling
• fatless
• rangy
• weedy
• reedy
• spindly
• lank
• sylphlike
• stringy
• waspish
• spare
• twiggy
• wizened
• emaciated
• cadaverous
• gangly
• puny
• meager
• anorexic
• anorectic
• pinched
• slight
• spindling
• spindle-shanked
• spindle-legged
• wasted

Dissimilar Words

• stocky
• beefy
• fleshy
• thick
• heavy
• bulky
• stout
• thickset
• burly
• heavyset
• brawny
• chunky
• husky
• weighty
• pudgy
• dumpy
• stubby
• paunchy
• potbellied
• squat
• flabby
• buxom
• soft
• chubby
• corpulent
• full
• roly-poly
• plump
• round
• rotund
• fat
• hippy
• obese
• overweight
• gross
• portly
• zaftig
• tubby

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective rawboned contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of rawboned are gaunt, lanky, lank, lean, scrawny, skinny, and spare. While all these words mean "thin because of an absence of excess flesh," rawboned suggests a large ungainly build without implying undernourishment.

a rawboned farmer

When might gaunt be a better fit than rawboned?

While the synonyms gaunt and rawboned are close in meaning, gaunt implies marked thinness or emaciation as from overwork or suffering.

a prisoner's gaunt face

When is it sensible to use lank instead of rawboned?

The words lank and rawboned are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, lank implies tallness as well as leanness.

the lank legs of the heron

When can lanky be used instead of rawboned?

In some situations, the words lanky and rawboned are roughly equivalent. However, lanky suggests awkwardness and loose-jointedness as well as thinness.

a lanky youth, all arms and legs

When could lean be used to replace rawboned?

Although the words lean and rawboned have much in common, lean stresses lack of fat and of curving contours.

a lean racehorse

How do scrawny and skinny relate to one another, in the sense of rawboned?

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

a scrawny chicken

skinny street urchins

When is spare a more appropriate choice than rawboned?

While in some cases nearly identical to rawboned, spare suggests leanness from abstemious living or constant exercise.

the gymnast's spare figure

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of rawboned

Mitsouko softened Chypre’s rawboned extremes, imparting a creamy peach glow to the whole. —Noy Thrupkaew, Washington Post, 21 Apr. 2021

Kirschling, a rawboned young man from Wisconsin, had written a master’s thesis at Columbia about long-term productivity decline in New York City’s mass transit. —William Finnegan, The New Yorker, 2 July 2018

Like so many in Lincoln Heights, this tiny, rawboned 89-year-old woman had lived through a time of gang violence, high crime and police oppression. —Brittny Mejia, Joe Mozingo, www.latimes.com, 3 Apr. 2018