# skinny

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈskɪni/ · frequency rank #7,285

## Definitions
1. Thin, generally in a negative sense (as opposed to slim, which is thin in a positive sense).
2. Of food or a beverage, having reduced fat or calories.
3. Naked; nude (chiefly used in the phrase skinny dipping).
4. Tight-fitting.
5. Synonym of thin (“type of shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head”).

## Etymology
From Middle English skinny (“resembling skin”), equivalent to skin + -y. The meaning associated with lack of fat or muscle possibly derives from the phrase skin and bones; the meaning associated with nudity refers to the exposed skin.

## Easily confused with
- **sunny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-sunny)
- **skins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-skins)
- **sonny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-sonny)
- **spiny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-spiny)
- **stinky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-stinky)
- **stingy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-stingy)
- **Skippy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-skippy)
- **slinky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinny-vs-slinky)
- **skin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skin-vs-skinny)
- **shiny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shiny-vs-skinny)
- **skiing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skiing-vs-skinny)
- **skimpy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skimpy-vs-skinny)
- **skinned** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinned-vs-skinny)
- **skinner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skinner-vs-skinny)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ksinny`, `siknny`, `skinnyy`, `skiny`, `skinyn`, `skkinny`, `skniny`, `sskinny`

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