scrannel

[skran-l]

adjective Archaic.

thin or slight.

squeaky or unmelodious.

Origin of scrannel

First recorded in 1630–40; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for scrannel

Historical Examples of scrannel

Suspicion, take it all in all, is the most tedious and scrannel of the sins.
The Book of This and That
Robert Lynd
The shell they struck gave a more melodious sound than the rough and scrannel pipe cut from the northern forests.
Amenities of Literature
Isaac Disraeli

British Dictionary definitions for scrannel

scrannel

adjective archaic

thin

harsh

Word Origin for scrannel

C17: probably from Norwegian skran lean. Compare scrawny

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scrannel

adj.

"thin, meager," 1630s; any modern use traces to Milton ("Lycidas," 124), who may have invented it out of dialectal scranny (see scrawny). Or it might be from a Scandinavian source akin to Norwegian skran "rubbish." Cf. English dialectal and Scottish skran "scraps, broken victuals; refuse," in military slang "food."