gaunt
pronunciation
How to pronounce gaunt in British English:
UK [gɔ:nt]
How to pronounce gaunt in American English:
US [ɡɔnt]
-
- Adjective:
- very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold
Word Origin
- gaunt (adj.)
- "lean and haggard," from or as if from hunger, mid-15c. (as a surname from mid-13c.), from Middle French gant, of uncertain origin; perhaps from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse gand "a thin stick," also "a tall thin man") and somehow connected with the root of gander. Connection also has been suggested to Old French jaunet "yellowish" [Middle English Dictionary].
Example
- 1. But he is gaunt still .
- 2. Oleg shein may appear gaunt and wobbly , but his voice is buoyant .
- 3. We know we 're gaunt , our hair is falling out in clumps , our colostomy bag needs emptying .
- 4. Mr. jobs went on medical leave from apple in january , and has appeared gaunt at public events since then .
- 5. And although he appears to have beaten the cancer , he shocked investors last year by mounting a stage looking sickly and gaunt .