Synonyms of skeletal

skeletal

adjective

ˈske-lə-tᵊl 

as in gaunt

suffering extreme weight loss as a result of hunger or disease

the stray kitten's skeletal body was pitiful to look at

Synonyms & Similar Words

• gaunt
• haggard
• bony
• emaciated
• starving
• starved
• cadaverous
• hungry
• skinny
• scrawny
• lanky
• thin
• wasted
• sinewy
• lank
• undernourished
• underfed
• rawboned
• scraggy
• wizened
• spare
• withered
• famished
• shriveled

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• healthy
• burly
• beefy
• husky
• brawny
• fit
• hearty
• hale
• fleshy
• fat
• obese
• plump
• overweight
• stocky
• corpulent
• chubby
• rotund
• pudgy
• thickset
• portly
• tubby
• heavyset
• flabby
• soft
• roly-poly

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of skeletal

Falling scaffolding at 14th and Peachtree A skeletal, half-finished building in Midtown that has sat neglected for five years has gotten so bad, City Council members approved a measure to impose a blight tax on it earlier this year. — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 15 July 2026

Since 2004, when exhumation and analysis of skeletal remains began for 49 Medici family tombs as part of the Medici Project, various studies have confirmed malaria as the cause of Francesco’s demise. — Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 15 July 2026

The other ring found with the same skeletal remains is a plain gold ring without any pattern. — Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026

Caterpillars feast on foliage, and can leave your garden full of holes and skeletal leaves. — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 7 July 2026