adj

gaunt

gawnt

adj

Unhealthily thin, especially with a hollow, drawn look from hunger, illness, or exhaustion.

"After weeks in the hospital, his face looked gaunt and pale."

"The famine left the villagers gaunt and weak."

Bleak, bare, or desolate, describing a place or a mood rather than a person.

"The gaunt ruins stood silent against the grey sky."

How to Use Gaunt

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThin and drawn-looking, usually because of illness, hunger, or hardship — or, for a place, bleak and stark.

Common mistake

Gaunt almost always implies something negative (illness, suffering, bleakness) — it isn't a neutral synonym for "slim."

Common pairings

a gaunt face gaunt and haggard gaunt figure

gaunter comparative, Gaunts plural, gauntest superlative

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After weeks in the hospital, his face looked _____ and pale.

From Middle English gaunt; its deeper origin is genuinely uncertain, with rival theories pointing to Old Norse or Old French roots.

aunt jaunt haunt taunt flaunt