Dictionary

macilent en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈmas.ɪ.lənt/

Etymology

From Latin macilentus (“lean, thin, meagre”), from Latin maciēs (“leanness; poverty”), from Latin macer (“meager; poor”), from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Cognate with English emaciate and meagre.

Meanings

1. Lean; thin; emaciated
   • It ought not to be doubted but that there will yet be a time of so copious an effusion of the Holy Spirit, as will invigorate it afresh and make it spring up, out of its macilent withered state, into its primitive liveliness and beauty. c. 1675–1702, John Howe, “The Living Temple”, in The Works of John Howe, M.A., volume 3, Religious Tract Society, published 1870, page 469:

Forms

Synonyms

scrawny