Meanings
alternative skin and bone
- figurativelyA person or an animal that is emaciated or very thin, as from lack of nutrition.
Look at that starving dog; he's nothing more than skin and bones.
1 more example
"Eh, good evening, sir," she said to me, as she drew herself up to make the best of her own inflated bulky appearance, "come and sit down here and tell me how it fares with you; but, by my troth, you are nothing but skin and bones!"
1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], translated by H. L. Brækstad, Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 4
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Catalan en la pell i els óssos
- en la pell i els óssosemaciated; very skinny
Chinese Cantonese 皮包骨
- 皮包骨 (pei⁴ baau¹ gwat¹)emaciated; very skinny
Chinese Mandarin 骨瘦如柴, 皮包骨
- 骨瘦如柴 (gǔshòurúchái)emaciated; very skinny
- 皮包骨 (píbāogǔ)emaciated; very skinny
- 皮包骨頭 /皮包骨头emaciated; very skinny
Danish skind og ben
- skind og benemaciated; very skinny
Finnish luuta ja nahkaa, luuviulu
- luuta ja nahkaaemaciated; very skinny
- luuviuluemaciated; very skinny
French n’avoir que la peau sur les os, paquet d’os
- n’avoir que la peau sur les osemaciated; very skinny
- paquet d’osemaciated; very skinny
German Haut und Knochen, ein Strich in der Landschaft
- Haut und Knochenemaciated; very skinny
- ein Strich in der Landschaftemaciated; very skinny
Greek οστεώδης
- οστεώδης (osteódis)emaciated; very skinny
Hungarian csont és bőr
- csont és bőremaciated; very skinny
Irish an scrogall is an t-eagán
- an scrogall is an t-eagánemaciated; very skinny
Italian magro, smunto
- magroemaciated; very skinny
- smuntoemaciated; very skinny
- tutta pelleemaciated; very skinny
- scarnitoemaciated; very skinny
- sciupatoemaciated; very skinny
- scavatoemaciated; very skinny
- macilentoemaciated; very skinny
- scheletricoemaciated; very skinny
- pelle e ossaemaciated; very skinny
- emaciatoemaciated; very skinny
- seccoemaciated; very skinny
- smilzoemaciated; very skinny
Japanese 痩せこけた
- 痩せこけた (yasekoketa)emaciated; very skinny
Latin cutis et ossa, pellis et ossa
- cutis et ossaemaciated; very skinny
- pellis et ossaemaciated; very skinny
Latvian kauli un āda
- kauli un ādaemaciated; very skinny
Norwegian Bokmål skinn og bein
- skinn og beinemaciated; very skinny
Polish skóra i kości
- skóra i kościemaciated; very skinny
Portuguese pele e osso
- pele e ossoemaciated; very skinny
Russian ко́жа да ко́сти, ко́сти да ко́жа
- ко́жа да ко́сти (kóža da kósti)emaciated; very skinny
- ко́сти да ко́жа (kósti da kóža)emaciated; very skinny
- одна́ ко́жа да ко́сти (odná kóža da kósti)emaciated; very skinny
Spanish piel y huesos, escuchimizado
- piel y huesosemaciated; very skinny
- escuchimizadoemaciated; very skinny
- hueso y pellejoemaciated; very skinny
- estar en los huesosemaciated; very skinny
Swedish skinn och ben
- skinn och benemaciated; very skinny
Tagalog buto't balat
- buto't balatemaciated; very skinny
Tamil எலும்பும்தோலுமாக
- எலும்பும்தோலுமாக (elumpumtōlumāka)emaciated; very skinny
Thai หนังหุ้มกระดูก
- หนังหุ้มกระดูกemaciated; very skinny
Cite this entry
skin and bones. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skin%20and%20bones
“skin and bones.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skin%20and%20bones. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skin and bones,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skin%20and%20bones.
Source: skin and bones on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.