skinny
Americanadjective
-
skinnier,
comparative
-
skinniest
superlative
-
very lean or thin; emaciated.
a skinny little kitten.
-
of or like skin.
-
unusually low or reduced; meager; minimal.
skinny profits.
-
(of an object) narrow or slender.
skinny noodles.
-
(of garments, especially pants) narrow and very tight-fitting.
skinny jeans; a skinny tank top.
noun
-
skinnies
plural
adjective
-
lacking in flesh; thin
-
consisting of or resembling skin
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of skinny
First recorded in 1565–75; skin + -y 1; skinny def. 6 is unclearly derived and perhaps a distinct word
Explanation
Someone who's skinny is thin. Your brother might be skinny enough to fit in the jeans he wore three years ago. A skinny person is slight or lean, and your skinny jeans are tight-fitting. You might order a skinny coffee drink at a cafe, meaning you'd like it to be made with skim milk. If someone offers to give you "the skinny" on something, they're revealing some secret information. This last, informal meaning stems from military slang during World War II, probably from the idea of "naked," or undisguised, truth.
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:
There were handheld American flags on skinny sticks, midsize ones to display on a wall and majestic formal flags adorned with silky gold fringe.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Low-rise skinny jeans may be out and High School Musical may no longer top the charts, but 2006 may be a portent nevertheless.
From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2026
Growing up she was skinny brow queen with big curly hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
His hair is neatly parted and he is known for his skinny suits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
I grabbed hold of a skinny black-walnut tree trunk and wrapped Peach’s arms around it.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
“It skinnies it a bit to make it a little more palatable going forward, but it focuses on some of our youngest learners and our highest-poverty elementary schools,” Riccelli said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
To loose-fit evangelists who have — since at least 2020, when comfort became the priority during pandemic lockdowns and denim brands struggled for survival — been declaring skinnies uncool, that may come as a surprise.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 27, 2023
The last thing he wants is for developers to swoop in and demolish buildings that could be saved, just to make way for tall skinnies and Airbnb’s.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 15, 2020
Casting aside the signature skinnies and grinnies that characterize the glossy pages of Elle and Vogue, Mirabella in its fashion pages features lesser-known models with figures of more realistic proportions.
From Time Magazine Archive
They cloth themselues with the skinnies of those beasts, because they haue nothing else to make them apparell withall.
From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation. Vol. XIII. America. Part II. by Richard Hakluyt
Petitti said that the Big Ten would’ve preferred “a much skinnier bill” than the current version, but “that is not the reality right now.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Type B communities offer a skinnier version of the lifecare contract.
From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026
Coca-Cola is selling soda in skinnier, cheaper bottles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Ehrlic commented in IndieWire that "Phoenix looks even skinnier here than he did in Joker, his shoulder blades threatening to cut two holes straight through his back".
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2024
She’s skinnier than I remember, but other than that she looks fine.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
It’s called the Scratch and it’s kind of the skinniest of the skinny margaritas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
It can claim to be one of Britain's skinniest homes, but there was plenty of interest when a house in the south Wales valleys sold for just under £45,000, around twice the estimate.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
It’s not the tallest, but it is the skinniest - the world’s skinniest, in fact.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 18, 2022
It’s not the tallest, but it is the skinniest — the world’s skinniest, in fact.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2022
I’m also the tallest, skinniest thing you ever seen.
From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake
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.
