scrawny
/ˈskɹɔni/adjective
scrawny is spelled S-C-R-A-W-N-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, scrawny means “Thin, malnourished, and weak” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scrawny?
| Letters | 7: S-C-R-A-W-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is scrawny?
Scrawny appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scrawny?
- UK /ˈskɹɔːni/
- US /ˈskɹɔni/
- /ˈskɹɑni/
Scrawny has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-scrawny.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with scrawny?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as scrawny from its last stressed vowel (/ɔni/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of scrawny
- scrawnier comparative
- scrawniest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scrawny mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Thin, malnourished, and weak.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scrawny in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense thin, malnourished and weak:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | famélique, maigrichon |
| German | dürr, abgemagert |
| Portuguese | magrelo, magricela |
| Spanish | enjuto, magro, escuálido, escuchimizado, esmirriado, tirillas |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scrawny come from?
A variant of dialectal scranny (“thin; lean; scraggy; poor; scanty; of inferior quality”), perhaps from Old Norse skran (“rubbish; junk”) + -y. Compare Norwegian skran (“lean, thin, skinny”), English scrannel (“lean; meager; poor; worthless”). Alternatively, perhaps from Old Norse skrælna (“to be shrivelled”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).