gracile
UK /ˈɡɹæsaɪl/ · US /ˈɡɹæˌsaɪl/ adjective
- adjective (also figuratively) Lean, slender, thin.
- adjective (chiefly zoology, anthropology, paleontology) Of an animal or skeletal element: having a slender frame.
- adjective Graceful or gracefully slender.
Synonyms
gracilent lithe svelte willowy gaunt lank lean leansome lithesome lissome rangy sleek slender slight slim slinky swack sylphlike catlike elegant
Antonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French gracil, gracile (“slender, thin”) (modern French gracile (“gracile”)), or directly from its etymon Latin gracilis (“slender, slim, thin; lean, meagre, scanty; simple, unadorned”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kerḱ- (“to become thin; to wane”). The sense “graceful or gracefully slender” was apparently influenced by the non-cognate word grace. The English word is cognate with Italian gracile (“delicate, frail; slender, thin”), Portuguese grácil, Spanish grácil (“graceful; delicate; slender”), and a doublet of gracilis.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [L. gracilis, gracilentus.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gracile”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details