Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

lean and hungry look

Cultural  
  1. A phrase from the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. Caesar remarks, concerning one of the men conspiring against him, “Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look.” Caesar means that Cassius looks dangerously dissatisfied, as if he were starved for power.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.

From New York Times Oct. 8, 2012

The first impression of Ms. Haberle as Phaedra is of a tough broad with a lean and hungry look: Elaine Stritch played by a middle-aged Audrey Hepburn.

From New York Times Oct. 29, 2011

The new lean and hungry look makes for lousy caricature.

From Time Magazine Archive

Their eyes are sullen, their mouths firm; they have a "lean and hungry" look.

From Time Magazine Archive

When I read, I conjured images of the characters, and Frank, with his lean and hungry look, reminded me of Cassius in Julius Caesar.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training