Antonyms for lean
| Grammar : Adj, verb |
| Spell : leen |
| Phonetic Transcription : lin |
Definition of lean
Origin :- c.1200, from Old English hleonian "to bend, recline, lie down, rest," from Proto-Germanic *khlinen (cf. Old Saxon hlinon, Old Frisian lena, Middle Dutch lenen, Dutch leunen, Old High German hlinen, German lehnen "to lean"), from PIE root *klei- "to lean, to incline" (cf. Sanskrit srayati "leans," sritah "leaning;" Old Persian cay "to lean;" Lithuanian slyti "to slope," slieti "to lean;" Latin clinare "to lean, bend," clivus "declivity," inclinare "cause to bend," declinare "bend down, turn aside;" Greek klinein "to cause to slope, slant, incline;" Old Irish cloin "crooked, wrong;" Middle Irish cle, Welsh cledd "left," literally "slanting;" Welsh go-gledd "north," literally "left" -- for similar sense evolution, see Yemen, Benjamin, southpaw).
- Meaning "to incline the body against something for support" is mid-13c. Figurative sense of "to trust for support" is from early 13c. Sense of "to lean toward mentally, to favor" is from late 14c. Related: Leaned; leaning. Colloquial lean on "put pressure on" (someone) is first recorded 1960.
- adj bare, thin
- verb bend, angle toward
- verb be disposed
- verb count, depend on
- He thought, too, of the lean face and the peculiar, set eye of Dozier.
- Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
- And now it comes back to me about the other one, the lean Andrew, his brother.
- Extract from : « Rico and Wiseli » by Johanna Spyri
- And he chuckled and rubbed his lean hands together as I had so often seen him do.
- Extract from : « The Bacillus of Beauty » by Harriet Stark
- The tall son of Hanover was lean of flesh, but gross in muscle.
- Extract from : « Thoroughbreds » by W. A. Fraser
- I am lean and bony and I've got a beak where I should have a nose.
- Extract from : « Her Father's Daughter » by Gene Stratton-Porter
- And now they're trying to lean it up a—there's some more puffs of smoke—it's guns!
- Extract from : « Tom Sawyer Abroad » by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
- He knew the power in her lean, muscular arms, the strength in her narrow shoulders.
- Extract from : « Dust » by Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
- He looked at them critically and replied: "Certainly they are lean."
- Extract from : « Green Mansions » by W. H. Hudson
- His mental perturbation was due to the lean look of his bank balance.
- Extract from : « The Foolish Lovers » by St. John G. Ervine
- Take six pounds of the lean of fresh beef, cut from the bone.
- Extract from : « Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches » by Eliza Leslie
Synonyms for lean
- angular
- anorexic
- bank on
- barren
- be off
- be prone
- be slanted
- be willing
- beanpole
- bear on
- beetle
- believe in
- bet bottom dollar
- bet on
- bony
- bow
- cant
- careen
- cock
- confide
- curve
- decline
- deflect
- dip
- divert
- drift
- droop
- emaciated
- fasten on
- favor
- gamble on
- gangling
- gangly
- gaunt
- gravitate toward
- haggard
- hang on
- have faith
- have propensity
- heel
- hinge on
- inadequate
- incline
- infertile
- jut
- lank
- lanky
- lay money on
- list
- look
- meager
- no fat
- nod
- not mind
- overhang
- pitch
- pitiful
- place
- poor
- prefer
- prop
- put faith in
- put weight on
- rangy
- rawboned
- recline
- rely
- repose
- rest
- rest on
- roll
- sag
- scanty
- scraggy
- scrawny
- shadow
- sheer
- sinewy
- sink
- skinny
- slant
- slender
- slim
- slope
- spare
- sparse
- stick
- stilt
- stringy
- svelte
- sylphlike
- tend
- tilt
- tip
- trust
- turn
- twiggy
- twist
- unfruitful
- unproductive
- veer
- wasted
- wiry
- wizened
- worn
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019