skinny person; scrawny person; scarecrow; bag of bones
Colloquial and mildly derogatory term for a very thin person, often used teasingly or self-deprecatingly.
That kid is so skinny, he always looks like he might get blown away by the wind.
I was a bag of bones as a child, but now I have a normal build.
Kana spelling is common in casual writing.
Derived from the verb 痩せる (yaseru, 'to become thin') with the suffix っぽち (-ppochi), which adds a diminutive or derogatory nuance. The exact origin of っぽち is uncertain, but it may be related to ぽっちり (potchiri, 'small amount') or similar sound-symbolic forms.