Meanings
comparative scrawnier · superlative scrawniest · alternative dialectal scranny
- Thin, malnourished, and weak.
“Tell him, in these words, that I will have his scrawny bones before me now. Tell him, Byar, and bring him if you must arrest him and those filthy wretches who disgrace the Children. Go.”
1992, Robert Jordan, “Chapter 31: Assurances”, in The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time; 4), London: Orbit Books, published 2021, →ISBN, page 498Synonyms: angular, anorexic, carrion, emaciated, gangling, gangly, gaunt, haggard
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveThin, malnourished, and weak.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Norseskrælna“to be shrivelled”
- Old Norseskran“rubbish; junk”
- Englishscrawny
A variant of dialectal scranny (“thin; lean; scraggy; poor; scanty; of inferior quality”), perhaps from Old Norse skran (“rubbish; junk”) + -y. Compare Norwegian skran (“lean, thin, skinny”), English scrannel (“lean; meager; poor; worthless”). Alternatively, perhaps from Old Norse skrælna (“to be shrivelled”).
More words from Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic هَزِيل, نَحِيل
- هَزِيل (hazīl)thin, malnourished and weak
- نَحِيل (naḥīl)thin, malnourished and weak
Bulgarian мършав
- мършав (măršav)thin, malnourished and weak
Chinese Mandarin 瘦弱, 消瘦
- 瘦弱 (shòuruò)thin, malnourished and weak
- 消瘦 (xiāoshòu)thin, malnourished and weak
Czech vychrtlý
- vychrtlýthin, malnourished and weak
Danish mager
- magerthin, malnourished and weak
Dutch mager, ondervoed
- magerthin, malnourished and weak
- ondervoedthin, malnourished and weak
- zwakthin, malnourished and weak
Finnish luiseva, hintelä
- luisevathin, malnourished and weak
- hinteläthin, malnourished and weak
- hontelothin, malnourished and weak
French famélique, maigrichon
- faméliquethin, malnourished and weak
- maigrichonthin, malnourished and weak
German dürr, abgemagert
- dürrthin, malnourished and weak
- abgemagertthin, malnourished and weak
Greek αχαμνός
- αχαμνός (achamnós)thin, malnourished and weak
Hungarian vézna, cingár
- véznathin, malnourished and weak
- cingárthin, malnourished and weak
- vékonydongájúthin, malnourished and weak
- vékonypénzűthin, malnourished and weak
- csontosthin, malnourished and weak
- csontsoványthin, malnourished and weak
- ványadtthin, malnourished and weak
- nyiszlettthin, malnourished and weak
Indonesian kerempeng
- kerempengthin, malnourished and weak
Italian macilento, emaciato
- macilentothin, malnourished and weak
- emaciatothin, malnourished and weak
Korean 앙상하다
- 앙상하다 (angsanghada)thin, malnourished and weak
Norwegian tynn, radmager
- tynnthin, malnourished and weak
- radmagerthin, malnourished and weak
- skrinnthin, malnourished and weak
- skrantthin, malnourished and weak
- skrangletthin, malnourished and weak
Polish wychudzony
- wychudzonythin, malnourished and weak
Portuguese magrelo, magricela
- magrelothin, malnourished and weak
- magricelathin, malnourished and weak
Russian то́щий, костля́вый
- то́щий (tóščij)thin, malnourished and weak
- костля́вый (kostljávyj)thin, malnourished and weak
Spanish enjuto, magro
- enjutothin, malnourished and weak
- magrothin, malnourished and weak
- escuálidothin, malnourished and weak
- escuchimizadothin, malnourished and weak
- esmirriadothin, malnourished and weak
- tirillasthin, malnourished and weak
- canijothin, malnourished and weak
- enclenquethin, malnourished and weak
- endeblethin, malnourished and weak
- flacuchothin, malnourished and weak
- pishquethin, malnourished and weak
Swedish mager, tanig
- magerthin, malnourished and weak
- tanigthin, malnourished and weak
- skrangligthin, malnourished and weak
- skraltigthin, malnourished and weak
- spinkigthin, malnourished and weak
Turkish cılız, sıska
- cılızthin, malnourished and weak
- sıskathin, malnourished and weak
Ukrainian худорлявий, кістлявий
- худорлявий (xudorljavyj)thin, malnourished and weak
- кістлявий (kistljavyj)thin, malnourished and weak
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with scrawny
All rhymes →Cite this entry
scrawny. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrawny
“scrawny.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrawny. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scrawny,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrawny.
Source: scrawny on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.