thin as a rake

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

thin as a rake

Where it comes from

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.

adjective

not comparable Incredibly thin; at an unhealthy-looking level of thinness.

Translations

Every language

adj incredibly thin

Français	maigre comme un clou
Italiano	magro come un chiodo
Русский	худо́й как ще́пка xudój kak ščépka, то́щий как жердь tóščij kak žerdʹ

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"thin as a rake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/thin%20as%20a%20rake. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

thin as a rake. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/thin%20as%20a%20rake

Chicago

"thin as a rake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/thin%20as%20a%20rake.

BibTeX

@misc{thin_as_a_rake_2026,
  title = {thin as a rake},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/thin%20as%20a%20rake},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}