skin and bones, (nothing but)

nothing but skin and bone(s)

Extremely thin; emaciated. I know the merger has been stressful, but have you been eating? Because you're nothing but skin and bones these days. The children in the village were nothing but skin and bone by the time foreign aid arrived.

See also: and, but, nothing, skin

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

skin and bones, (nothing but)

Emaciated; painfully thin. This hyperbole has been around since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans; Theocritus, Plautus, and Virgil are among the ancient writers who used it. An unknown fifteenth-century writer stated, “Now . . . Me is lefts But skyn and boon” (Hymns to the Virgin and Child, ca. 1430).

See also: and, skin

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer