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
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Recent Examples of skeletal
The seemingly unconnected and largely overlooked disappearances of young women became the focus of true-crime documentaries, books and podcasts after police began discovering the victims’ skeletal remains in the sandy scrub along a coastal parkway.
—
Philip Marcelo,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2026
Its skeletal steel dome, erected on the spot where an Easter egg roll was held in the days of the republic, rises as high as the topmost arcade of the Colosseum, towering over the White House.
—
Cullen Murphy,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2026
From the skeletal evidence, scientists with the lab constructed a DNA profile for the victim to develop new investigative leads for law enforcement, Othram said in a news release.
—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
About two years later, in July 2000, a researcher discovered human skeletal remains in a remote part of Olympic National Park, along the Sol Duc River, the National Park Service said.
—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for skeletal
Philip Marcelo,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2026
Its skeletal steel dome, erected on the spot where an Easter egg roll was held in the days of the republic, rises as high as the topmost arcade of the Colosseum, towering over the White House.
—
Cullen Murphy,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2026
From the skeletal evidence, scientists with the lab constructed a DNA profile for the victim to develop new investigative leads for law enforcement, Othram said in a news release.
—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
About two years later, in July 2000, a researcher discovered human skeletal remains in a remote part of Olympic National Park, along the Sol Duc River, the National Park Service said.
—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for skeletal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skeletal
Adjective
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The church’s punishment, however, delivered in front of the congregants, is an eerie ritual performed by a gaunt, severe visitor (Nicholas Hope).
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Brig is in the Upper Valais, a gaunt and conservative place where the inhabitants speak Walliser German, an Alpine dialect that many Swiss people find unintelligible.
Adjective
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Rocking back and forth nervously during a television appearance, a haggard-looking Diaz-Canel acknowledged the same talks, which his government had denied were taking place just days before.
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Wrexham, meanwhile, was near the bottom, struggling in England’s lowest division under a haggard fan-ownership group keeping it on life support.
Cite this Entry
“Skeletal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skeletal. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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