runty

comparative runtier · superlative runtiest

1. Having the characteristics of a runt; small and stunted; diminutive.

   Nopcsa’s dinosaurs were not only runty, but primitive as well.

   2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 23

   2 more examples

   From the light above us thin shadows flickered and a runty little image of the defiance in front of me fell on to the table. […] The little runt was still singed and groggy […]

   1965 June 17, “Love—and Death—in the African Night”, in The Times

   Only later did I discover that a runty old almond tree, hidden behind a laburnum, riddled with peach leaf curl, […]

   1969 October 4, Roy Hay, “Peaches and Plums”, in The Times