Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
skin and bones

skin and bones

12 5.6
Very thin with almost no fat or muscle
  • idiom
  • Informal
: piel y huesos
  • The stray dog was clearly skin and bones after being lost for so long.
  • just skin and bones
  • reduced to skin and bones
  • a skin and bones man

And he is like skin and bones, like he hasn't eaten in weeks and he is starving.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Look at her—only skin and bones, so that one feels sorry for her.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • But look at you, all skin and bones.

    Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

  • Poor guy's just skin and bones.

    Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979)

  • The child was just skin and bones.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • His feet and hands seemed huge because the rest of him had dwindled to skin and bones.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Because he took every hard-luck case and put in such long hours, he was soon down almost to skin and bones.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Look at my son, Larry, look at him, he's skin and bones.

    Reversal (2001)

  • He went from weighing about 275 pounds to just skin and bones in a matter of weeks.

    Daltry Calhoun (2005)

  • After weeks of illness, he looked like nothing but skin and bones.

  • When I saw her again, she was just skin and bones, much thinner than before.

Synonyms

bag of bones
vsskin and bones
  • Offensive
8 7.0

A very thin person or animal and sometimes a thing that is very worn and broken

focuses on having very little body flesh rather than poor condition
thin person
vsskin and bones
4 2.1

A person who has very little body fat and looks underweight

suggests extreme flesh loss rather than general slimness
scrag
vsskin and bones
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A very thin, bony person

means extreme thinness but less harsh and not medical
ectomorph
vsskin and bones
  • Specialized
1 9.4

A person with a naturally thin, lean body and little fat or muscle

refers to extreme thinness from lack of flesh rather than natural type
stickman
vsskin and bones
  • Offensive
1 8.2

A very thin person whose clothes hang loosely

is informal while the other term is more neutral and descriptive
atomy
vsskin and bones
  • Archaic
9.9

A very small creature or a person who is extremely thin

describes extreme thinness but with plain wording about lack of flesh

Antonyms

obese
96 3.8

Having too much body fat that can cause health problems

plump
46 2.7

A little fat and rounded in a healthy, attractive way

How Thin

skin and bones
  • Informal
12 5.6
scrawny
  • Informal
44 4.2
skinny
349 1.3
thin
310 1.0
slender
64 1.4

Surface Forms

skin and bones singular
skin and bones plural

Morphology

skin + and + bone

The meaning 'extremely thin' is directly and transparently derived from the literal image of only 'skin' and 'bones' remaining, so a B1 learner who knows 'skin' and 'bone' will readily infer the intended sense. This construction is a straightforward, image-based composition and similar literal idioms occur in many languages, supporting immediate comprehension.

Etymology

Skin and bones gives a simple image: a person with only skin stretched over bones, with almost no fat or muscle left. That's why it means 'extremely thin'.