maigre

thin, lean

adjective MEH-gruh Less Common

Also means

meagre, scant

Usage Note

maigre describes a person or animal as thin (sometimes with a connotation of unhealthily so), and also describes food as lean (viande maigre — 'lean meat') or a result as meagre (un maigre salaire — 'a meagre salary'). Faire maigre is the Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays. The adverb is maigrement and the noun maigreur means 'thinness, skinniness'.

Examples

"Il est trop maigre pour son âge."

Natural Translation

He is too thin for his age.

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