skeletal
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Relating to the bones of the body; also, very thin.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skehluhtuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskɛlətəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of or relating to or forming or attached to a skeleton
Haggard, cadaverous, emaciated or gaunt
Barebones, lacking elaboration
noun
paleontologyinformal
Shorthand for skeletal diagram (a black-and-white drawing of a [usually extinct] animal's skeleton to be used as a reference for paleoart)
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of or relating to or forming or attached to a skeleton
Used this way, skeletal is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use skeletal
- “The skeletal system.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A muscle that is connected at either or both ends to a bone and so move parts of the skeleton.
Any structure created by the skeleton of an organism.
The hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal.
The internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.