scrawniness
Skin and bones
Scrawniness is the quality of being scrawny—excessively thin and bony in an unhealthy or unappealing way.
Unlike slenderness, which can be attractive, scrawniness suggests undernourishment or weakness: The scrawniness of the stray cat made her heart ache.
The word often implies someone could use more muscle or fat.
Lean from deprivation
- haggardExhausted in appearance
- emaciatedAbnormally wasted from hunger
- skeletalOf or like bones
- cadaverousResembling the deceased
wasted · starved · drawn · pinched · wizened · sunken · hollowed · malnourished
Very thin, underweight
- bonyThin, with protruding skeleton
- lankyTall and ungainly thin
- spindlyThin and fragile-looking
- angularSharp-edged or rawboned
gangly · rawboned · wiry · stringy · scraggy · gaunt · lean · spare
Easily broken or damaged
- delicateEasily broken or harmed
- feebleWeak and ineffective
- weakLacking power or force
- frailWeak and breakable
infirm · sickly · vulnerable · brittle · wispy · insubstantial · slight · flimsy
Disease from dietary inadequacy
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- undernourishmentInsufficient dietary intake
- underfedLacking adequate food
- malnourishedLacking proper nutrition
famine · hunger · deprivation · wasting · cachexia · deficiency · poverty · scarcity
Lack of strength
- debilityImpaired strength or vitality
- powerlessnessInability to affect outcomes
- enervationLoss of vigor
- astheniaLack of bodily strength
impotence · helplessness · fatigue · exhaustion · lethargy · incapacity · enfeeblement · debilitation
gaunt
Lean from deprivation
cadaverous · wasted · starved · drawn · pinched · wizened · sunken · hollowed · malnourished · undernourished
skinny
Very thin, underweight
angular · gangly · rawboned · wiry · stringy · scraggy · gaunt · lean · spare · slight
fragile
Easily broken or damaged
frail · infirm · sickly · vulnerable · brittle · wispy · insubstantial · slight · flimsy · tenuous
malnutrition
Disease from dietary inadequacy
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- undernourishmentInsufficient dietary intake
- underfedLacking adequate food
malnourished · famine · hunger · deprivation · wasting · cachexia · deficiency · poverty · scarcity
feebleness
Lack of strength
- debilityImpaired strength or vitality
- powerlessnessInability to affect outcomes
- enervationLoss of vigor
asthenia · impotence · helplessness · fatigue · exhaustion · lethargy · incapacity · enfeeblement · debilitation · languor
scrawninessobesity
Excess body fat condition
fatness · plumpness · corpulence · chubbiness · portliness
scrawninessmuscularity
Bodily strength and definition
brawniness · huskiness · burliness · sturdiness · beefiness