gaunt

English

Etymology

Perhaps from a Scandinavian source, compare Old Norse gandr (“magic staff”) (Danish gand/gan, Norwegian bokmål gand)

Pronunciation

• enPR: gônt, IPA: /ɡɔːnt/, SAMPA: /gO:nt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɔːnt

Adjective

gaunt (comparative gaunter, superlative gauntest)

1. lean, angular, and bony
   • 1894, Joseph Jacobs, chapter 1, The Fables of Aesop^[1]:

     A gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to meet a House-dog who was passing by.

2. haggard, drawn, and emaciated
   • 1917, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 5, His Last Bow^[2]:

     In the dim light of a foggy November day the sick room was a gloomy spot, but it was that gaunt, wasted face staring at me from the bed which sent a chill to my heart.

3. bleak, barren, and desolate
   • 1908, William Hope Hodgson, chapter 14, The House on the Borderland^[3]:

     Behind me, rose up, to an extraordinary height, gaunt, black cliffs.

Synonyms

• scraggy, scrawny, skinny

Translations

lean, angular and bony

Chinese: Mandarin: 瘦削 (zh) (shòuxuē) German: knochig (de), dünn (de), hager (de), mager (de)

Russian: сухопарый (ru) (suxopáryj), костлявый (ru) (kostljávyj), тощий (ru) (tóščij), худой (ru) (xudój) Serbo-Croatian: koščat (sh), suhonjav (sh), ispijen (sh)

haggard, drawn and emaciated

French: émacié (fr)

Russian: исхудалый (ru) (isxudályj), исхудавший (ru) (isxudávšyj)

bleak, barren, and desolate