Definition

Adjective: - Extremely thin and gaunt: Describes a person or animal who is excessively skinny, often to the point of appearing weak, undernourished, or frail. It implies a lack of healthy flesh and a bony, emaciated physique.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau trận ốm nặng, anh ấy trông gầy còm và yếu ớt. (After the serious illness, he looked extremely thin and weak.)
  • Đứa trẻ thiếu ăn trông thật gầy còm. (The malnourished child looks very gaunt.)
  • Con chó hoang gầy còm đang tìm thức ăn. (The gaunt stray dog is looking for food.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "gầy còm" often carries a stronger, more pitiful connotation than just "gầy" (thin). It suggests a state of thinness resulting from poor health, poverty, or hardship, evoking sympathy or concern.

Variants and Related Words

• Gầy (adj): Thin, slim. A more neutral term for being slender.
  • Cô ấy cao và gầy. (She is tall and thin.)
• Còm (adj, less common alone): Often used in combination with "gầy" to intensify the meaning, suggesting boniness or scragginess.
• Còi cọc (adj): Stunted, underdeveloped (often used for children or plants). It can be synonymous with "gầy còm" when describing poor physical development.

Synonyms

• Gaunt: Lean and haggard, especially from suffering or age.
• Emaciated: Abnormally thin or weak, especially because of illness or lack of food.
• Skinny: Very thin, often informally.
• Scrawny: Unattractively thin and bony.

Related Idioms

• Gầy như que củi: As thin as a stick; a simile emphasizing extreme thinness.
  • Ông lão ốm yếu, gầy như que củi. (The sickly old man is as thin as a stick.)
• Gầy đét: (Colloquial) Very skinny, all skin and bones.
  • Làm việc vất vả khiến anh ta gầy đét. (Hard work made him all skin and bones.)

adj

1. slim