skin and bones

American  

Or skin and bone

noun

1. a condition or state of extreme thinness, usually the result of malnutrition; emaciation.

   Anorexia had reduced her to skin and bones.

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skin and bones Idioms  

1. Painfully thin, emaciated. This phrase often is expanded to nothing but skin and bones, as in She came home from her trip nothing but skin and bones. This hyperbolic expression—one could hardly be alive without some flesh—dates from the early 1400s.

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Etymology

Origin of skin and bones

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

The last time their daughter saw her father, "he couldn't get out of bed. He was literally skin and bones," Gamboa said.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2023

"I told myself before the game, 'he's made of skin and bones, just like everyone else'. But I was wrong."

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2022

“I told myself before the game, he’s made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong.”

From Seattle Times • Dec. 29, 2022

Geltor is producing forms of collagen they say are identical to the proteins extracted from skin and bones.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2022

The bear was skin and bones, like a lumpy white rug, lying on green grass with one paw lifted up in a kind of salute.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin

Related Words

• bony
• gaunt
• scrawny
• skeletal
• skinny