Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Bony / Gaunt: Describes a person or part of the body that is extremely thin, so that the bones are prominent and visible under the skin.
   • Scraggy / Scrawny: Describes an animal that is unpleasantly thin and bony.

2. Noun:

   • Bones / Scraps: Refers to the leftover bones of an animal after the meat has been eaten, often implying they are of little value. Used figuratively to describe something worthless or undesirable that others have discarded.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau trận ốm, anh ấy trông rất xương xẩu. (After the illness, he looked very gaunt.)
  • Con mèo hoang đó trông xương xẩu và yếu ớt. (That stray cat looks scrawny and weak.)
• Noun:
  • Chó đang gặm những khúc xương xẩu. (The dog is gnawing on the bony scraps.)
  • Phần đất còn lại toàn là xương xẩu, khó canh tác. (The remaining land is all poor scraps, difficult to cultivate.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a negative or pitiful connotation when describing a person's appearance, emphasizing unattractive thinness due to poverty, sickness, or hardship.
• As a noun, it is commonly used in a metaphorical sense in business or resource allocation to describe the leftover, least valuable parts.

Variants and Related Words

• Xương xảu: A variant spelling with the same meaning.
• Gầy guộc (adj): Skinny, very thin.
• Khẳng khiu (adj): Lanky, tall and thin to the point of appearing frail.

Synonyms

• Bony: Having prominent bones.
• Gaunt: Extremely thin and bony, often from suffering or age.
• Scrawny: Unattractively thin and bony (often for animals or people).

Related Idioms

• Xương xẩu xương xao: An intensified form emphasizing extreme boniness and frailty.
  • Làm việc vất vả cả năm, ông ấy chỉ còn da bọc xương xẩu xương xao. (Working hard all year, he became just skin and bones.)

adj

1. bony