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Glite Dictionary
🦴 A very thin person 🔬 A tiny particle
atomy

atomy

1 9.9
A very small creature or a person who is extremely thin
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : esqueleto
  • I cannot by magic hold together your atomies, which will dissolve --

Examples

  • Despite her small size, she was more than an atomy; she was a fierce and determined competitor.

  • The child looked like a mere atomy after a long illness, so thin and frail.

  • The old man was so weak that he resembled an atomy, barely able to walk.

Synonyms

skin and bones
vsatomy
  • Informal
9 5.6

Very thin with almost no fat or muscle

also refers to a very small creature in other uses
thin person
vsatomy
4 2.1

A person who has very little body fat and looks underweight

is more extreme meaning visibly emaciated

How Small

atom
  • Specialized
170 3.5
atomy
  • Archaic
1 9.9
mite
11 5.1
speck
66 1.3

Surface Forms

atomy singular
atomies plural

Morphology

atomy = atom (semi-transparent) = atom + y

Formed from 'atom' + '-y' so the sense 'very small' is evident, but the extension to a thin/ emaciated person is a figurative shift not directly predictable for learners.

Etymology

Atomy comes from the Greek word atomos, made of a- 'not' and tomos 'cut'. That's why atomy was used for something extremely small or for a person so thin they seemed almost like a single, uncut piece.