adjective
gaunt
GAWNT/ɡɔːnt/
Extremely lean and visibly depleted.
The woman's gaunt appearance shows in her hollow cheeks and prominent collarbones.
Etymology
The word is recorded meaning “lean and haggard,” as if from hunger. Its origin is uncertain; the suggested Scandinavian connection with a “thin stick” remains only a possibility.
In context
she was thin and gaunt and never smiled
More examples
- The gaunt stray dog eats hungrily from the bowl.
- She looks gaunter now than she did before her illness.
- The portrait shows a gaunt man with hollow cheeks.
Forms
gaunt · gaunter · gauntest
gauntness noun — The state of looking thin and depleted.
Similar words
- emaciated
- Suggests more severe thinness, usually from starvation or disease.
- haggard
- Emphasizes a drawn, exhausted face rather than extreme thinness.