gaunt

gaunt

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Pronunciation

Phonetic Spelling

The word gaunt is a single-syllable word.

• IPA (US): /ɡɔnt/ or /ɡɑnt/

• IPA (UK): /ɡɔːnt/

Syllable Breakdown

• Syllable 1: gaunt (/ɡɔnt/)

• g (/ɡ/): A voiced velar plosive, like the 'g' in go.

• au (/ɔ/): An open-mid back rounded vowel, like the 'augh' in caught (in US English) or the 'o' in lot (in some US accents, it's /ɑ/ like in father).

• n (/n/): A voiced alveolar nasal, like the 'n' in no.

• t (/t/): A voiceless alveolar plosive, like the 't' in top.

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Word Form Variations

• Adjective (base): gaunt

• Comparative: gaunter

• Superlative: gauntest

• Adverb: gauntly

• Noun: gauntness

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Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms

Adjective

1. (Of a person) Appearing extremely thin, bony, and haggard, often as a result of suffering, hunger, or illness.

• Synonyms: emaciated, skeletal, drawn, haggard, wasted, angular

• Antonyms: plump, robust, well-fed, portly, healthy

2. (Of a place or structure) Looking bleak, desolate, or grim; barren and forbidding.

• Synonyms: bleak, stark, barren, desolate, grim, austere

• Antonyms: lush, verdant, cheerful, inviting, luxurious

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Examples of Use

In Books and Literature

• As a description of a person: "He was a tall, gaunt man, with a face scorched yellow by the sun, and wrinkled and lined with deep furrows." (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet)

• As a description of a place: "It was a gaunt, weather-beaten place, perched on a high, bare rock, and looking down on the white ribbon of the road." (Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca)

• As a description of an object: "The naked branches of the trees in winter stood out like gaunt skeletons against the sky."

In Newspapers and Online Publications

• Describing a public figure: "After his prolonged illness, the once-robust politician appeared frail and gaunt during his first press conference."

• In a news report: "Rescuers found the hiker after five days, dehydrated and gaunt but alive, huddled in a small cave."

• Describing a building or landscape: "The fire left behind only the gaunt, blackened shell of the historic factory, a grim monument to the disaster." (The Guardian)

In Entertainment (Film, TV, and Games)

• In a screenplay: A character description in a script might read: "He is gaunt and pale, his eyes sunken, clearly not having slept in days."

• In a movie review: "The actor's commitment to the role is total; he reportedly lost over 40 pounds to achieve the shockingly gaunt appearance of the prisoner of war."

• In video game design: "The enemy's design is terrifying, a gaunt figure with elongated limbs that skitters out of the darkness."

In General Public Discourse

• In a historical context: "Photographs from the Dust Bowl era often show the gaunt faces of farmers and their families, worn down by drought and poverty."

• In a public speech or interview: "We cannot ignore the images of these gaunt children; it is a moral imperative to act and end this famine."

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10 Famous Quotes Using Gaunt

1. Old Gaunt indeed, and gaunt in being old. (William Shakespeare, Richard II)

2. And therein fasting hast thou made me gaunt. (William Shakespeare, Richard II)

3. Gaunt, without any fever, not cold, not warm, with vacant eyes... the youngster heaved himself up... and whispered in my ear: 'Doctor, let me die.' (Franz Kafka, A Country Doctor)

4. At my age, you can go either fat or gaunt. I've gone gaunt. (John Waters)

5. When you are just muscle, you end up being gaunt. (Heidi Klum)

6. His gaunt face was transfigured with ecstasy. (Robert Browning, "The Saint")

7. His face was gaunt, his eyes were blurred, and his skin was wolfish. (Jack London, The Call of the Wild)

8. The tall, gaunt woman looked more like a rake or a nutcracker than a human being. (Eva Ibbotson, Journey to the River Sea)

9. He was a tall, gaunt man, with descending shoulders, and a long, curved back. (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles)

10. The dealing isn't done until Mr. Gaunt says the dealing's done. (Stephen King, Needful Things)

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Etymology

The exact origin of the word gaunt is a bit of a mystery, but we have a very good idea of when it showed up and what it first meant.

The word first appeared in Middle English around the 1440s. Back then, its meaning was actually neutral—it simply meant "thin" or "slender," not necessarily in the negative, sickly way we use it today.

As for where it came from, there are two main theories:

1. The French Theory: It may have come from an Old French word like gaunet or jaunet, which meant "yellowish." This makes sense, as people who are very sick or starving (and therefore thin) often have a pale or sallow, yellowish complexion. The word for the color may have become associated with the physical condition.

2. The Viking Theory: It might also have come from a Scandinavian (Old Norse) source. There is an old Norwegian word, gand, which meant a "thin, pointed stick" or a "tall, lean person." This provides a very direct, visual link to the idea of being bony, angular, and "stick-thin."

Either way, the word started as a simple description for "slender" and, over the centuries, evolved to take on the much stronger, more negative meaning it has today: "unpleasantly thin and haggard," almost always suggesting it's the result of suffering, illness, or hunger.

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Phrases + Idioms Containing Gaunt

Phrases Using "Gaunt"

1. A gaunt figure (or silhouette)

2. Gaunt and hollow-eyed

3. A gaunt, forbidding landscape

4. Gaunt with hunger (or illness)

5. The gaunt ruins of a building

6. Gaunt-cheeked and pale

7. The gaunt branches of a winter tree

8. A gaunt face

9. A gaunt, gray building

10. Gaunt from suffering

Idioms with a Similar Meaning (Using Synonyms)

1. A bag of bones

2. Skin and bones

3. Thin as a rail

4. A shadow of one's former self

5. Wasting away (to nothing)

6. A walking skeleton

7. Look like death warmed over

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Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA

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Source Information

Definition of gaunt from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.

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