skinny
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Thin, generally in a negative sense.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skineeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskɪni
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
informal
Thin, generally in a negative sense (as opposed to slim, which is thin in a positive sense).
informal
Of food or a beverage, having reduced fat or calories.
Naked; nude (chiefly used in the phrase skinny dipping).
of clothing
Tight-fitting.
noun
A state of nakedness; nudity.
informal
A low-fat serving of coffee.
An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of a narrow fence.
colloquial
The details or facts; especially, those obtained by gossip or rumor.
verb
transitiveinformal
To reduce or cut down.
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: Thin, generally in a negative sense (as opposed to slim, which is thin in a positive sense).
Used this way, skinny is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use skinny
- “He wanted the inside skinny on the new partner.”noun
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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 naked swimmer.
A naked swim.
Slang terms for inside information.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.