scrawny
Americanadjective
adjective
-
very thin and bony; scraggy
-
meagre or stunted
scrawny vegetation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of scrawny
1825–35, variant of dial. scranny < Norwegian skran lean + -y 1
Explanation
Scrawny is an insulting way to describe someone who's very thin and weak. You might be surprised by how lifting weights transformed your scrawny teammate to a muscular athlete by the end of the season. The adjective scrawny can describe a small, underweight body but it can also describe anything that's not very big or well-made — a scrawny tree that never gets any taller or fuller or a scrawny audience that disappoints the band because they were expecting a sold-out concert. Scrawny may have come from the Old Norse word skraelna, to shrivel.
Vocabulary lists containing scrawny
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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List 8
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"The Hunger Games" Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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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.
Lotkoy Ebey has just five scrawny goats to her name where she once had 50.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
He was sitting on a curb beneath a scrawny tree, trying to get some shade, and coughing.
From Slate • Jan. 27, 2026
Although he played quarterback, he was so scrawny that it was hard for even the most optimistic coach to imagine how he would survive a college pass rush.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 6, 2026
Yet as funny as it is to see a guy this scrawny carry himself like Hercules, he leaps and strikes with conviction.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
No one noticed the scrawny man in a shabby coat lurking in the doorway shadows.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
