Phrase guide

thin as a rake

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Incredibly thin; at an unhealthy-looking level of thinness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Qualifier: simile

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Alteration of earlier lean as a rake, from Middle English lene as a rake; the last element in is potentially an modification of either Middle English *rak (“skinny animal”) (from Old Norse hrak) or rak (“rack”) after rake (“rake”), though it might merely represent that word.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: laiha kuin tikku — incredibly thin
  • Finnish: laiha kuin kukkakeppi — incredibly thin
  • French: maigre comme un clou — incredibly thin
  • Galician: delgado coma un espicho — incredibly thin
  • Italian: magro come un chiodo — incredibly thin
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tynn som en strek — incredibly thin
  • Russian: худо́й как ще́пка (xudój kak ščépka) — incredibly thin
  • Russian: то́щий как жердь (tóščij kak žerdʹ) — incredibly thin
  • Swedish: smal som en sticka — incredibly thin
  • Swedish: smal som en pinne — incredibly thin
  • Swedish: trådsmal — incredibly thin