scrawny

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

A variant of dialectal scranny (“thin; lean; scraggy; poor; scanty; of inferior quality”), perhaps from Old Norse skran (“rubbish; junk”) +‎ -y. Compare Norwegian skran (“lean, thin, skinny”), English scrannel (“lean; meager; poor; worthless”).

Alternatively, perhaps from Old Norse skrælna (“to be shrivelled”)[1].

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɔːni/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɔni/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɑni/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔːni

Adjective

scrawny (comparative scrawnier, superlative scrawniest)

  1. Thin, malnourished and weak.

Synonyms

Translations

References
  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “scrawny”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
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