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gaunt

gaunt

9 7.3
Very thin and pale from illness, hunger, or hard times
  • adjective
  • /ɡɔnt/
translation icon : demacrado
  • His face was gaunt after weeks of illness, making him look pale and worn.

My face was really gaunt with my cheeks like sunken in.

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Examples

  • His face was lean, almost gaunt, and his skin was very bronzed.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • So the older you get, the more gaunt you're going to look.

  • The bobble-head lady now looks even more gaunt than she did on the campaign earlier this fall.

    Blog text (21)
  • Not extraordinary, but she went too far and began to look gaunt, almost skeletal.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Seeing the pictures that I've seen him post on Facebook, he looks very thin, gaunt and very weak.

  • My face was really gaunt with my cheeks like sunken in.

  • His face was gaunt and drawn; hollows had formed under his broad cheekbones.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Sunken eyes stared out of his gaunt face and broke into a crooked smile.

  • His heart attack had left him weakened and gaunt, and Jacy still hadn't gotten used to the change in him.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Eamon was tall and lanky, with an ever-present stubble staining his gaunt cheeks.

    Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

skinny
vsgaunt
298 1.3

Very thin in a way that looks unhealthy

adds stronger sense of illness, pallor, and worn appearance
scrawny
vsgaunt
  • Informal
40 4.2

Very thin and weak in a way that looks unhealthy

is similar but more clearly linked to illness and pallor
haggard
vsgaunt
12 7.0

Looking very tired and pale from worry, illness, or lack of food

focuses more on thin, pale appearance caused by severe hardship
emaciated
vsgaunt
8 7.8

Extremely thin from illness or lack of food with bones showing

is similarly caused by hardship but highlights pale, worn appearance
skeletal
vsgaunt
5 6.0

Very thin with bones showing under the skin

is very thin but also looks pale and worn from hardship
cadaverous
vsgaunt
1 9.1

Very pale and thin, looking like a dead body

is very thin and worn but not described as corpse like
skinny as a rail
vsgaunt
  • Informal
1 7.0

Very thin person with little or no fat

uses a more serious tone linking thinness to illness and hardship
scraggy
vsgaunt
7.9

Very thin and bony in a way that looks unhealthy

is thinner because of hardship and shows a paler, worn look
wasted
vsgaunt
5.1

Very thin and weak because of illness or lack of use

stresses thinness with a pale, worn appearance from hardship
pinched
vsgaunt
6.0

A thin, drawn face that shows illness or hunger

describes whole-body thinness with a pale, worn overall look

Antonyms

44 2.7

A little fat and rounded in a healthy, attractive way

How Thin

emaciated
8 7.8
gaunt
9 7.3
thin
314 1.0

Surface Forms

gaunt positive
gaunter comparative
gauntest superlative

Etymology

Gaunt is easy to remember if you imagine someone whose face looks almost 'gone' of flesh, with hollow cheeks and pale skin. It comes from old European words for 'thin' and 'worn', so gaunt today means very thin and pale, often from illness or hunger.