Translation guide
This entry covers ways to express that someone or something becomes extremely thin, often due to illness, starvation, or neglect. It focuses on natural Japanese expressions for describing a state of severe weight loss or wasting away.
Describe a person or animal that has lost so much weight they look skeletal, typically due to disease, famine, or lack of food.
Intransitive verb meaning to become haggard or emaciated, often from illness, worry, or hardship. Focuses on the visible result of wasting away.
He became completely emaciated after a long illness.
Compound verb meaning to become thin and weak; emphasizes both weight loss and loss of strength.
The patient had become emaciated due to malnutrition.
Suru verb describing a sudden, noticeable loss of weight, often with a gaunt or exhausted look. Common in casual speech.
She became emaciated from illness.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'to become nothing but skin and bones.' Vivid and somewhat dramatic.
The stray dog had become emaciated, just skin and bones.
Describe a gradual, pitiful decline in physical condition, often used for abandoned animals, prisoners, or people in extreme poverty.
Intransitive verb meaning to become very thin and frail. Often implies a slow, pitiful process.
The abandoned kitten had become emaciated.
General verb for declining in health or strength; can imply emaciation when combined with context about weight loss.
痩せる (やせる) simply means 'to lose weight' or 'become thin,' which can be positive or neutral. やつれる specifically implies an unhealthy, haggard emaciation, often from suffering.
I lost weight through dieting.
I became emaciated from illness.
He became emaciated during his long imprisonment.