# scrawny

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈskɹɔːni/ · frequency rank #41,372

## Definitions
1. Thin, malnourished, and weak.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **scrappy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scrappy-vs-scrawny)

## Common misspellings (12)
`csrawny`, `scarwny`, `sccrawny`, `scranwy`, `scrawnny`, `scrawnyy`, `scrawwny`, `scrawyn`, `scrrawny`, `scrwany`, `srcawny`, `sscrawny`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/scrawny