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

Baroness Golding said her dad told her of people at the camps who were "skin and bones with vacant eyes".

From BBC • May 5, 2025

Shred chicken into bite sized pieces, discarding skin and bones.

From Salon • Feb. 27, 2025

While the broth is simmering, use a fork or your fingers to shred chicken into bite-size pieces, discarding skin and bones.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 6, 2022

Face to face with the bodies, you would see skin and bones, hair and clothes, and what else?

From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2020

He was skin and bones, his eyes were dead.

From "Night" by Elie Wiesel

Related Words

• bony
• gaunt
• scrawny
• skeletal
• skinny