scantily clad

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparabledisapproving

   Wearing very few or very small items of clothing, especially in a way that exposes much of the body.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a scantily clad model; she was scantily clad.

   Patterns

   • scantily clad woman
   • be scantily clad

   The tabloid ran a photo of scantily clad dancers.

   Visitors to the temple may not be scantily clad.

   The statue shows a scantily clad hunter.

2. 2adjectiveafter a verb

   Not dressed warmly enough for the weather, wearing only thin or minimal clothing.

   Grammar: Usually follows be or a verb: they were scantily clad in the cold.

   Patterns

   • scantily clad in the cold

   The children stood scantily clad in the freezing yard.

   Scantily clad hikers had to be rescued from the snow.

   The refugees arrived scantily clad and shivering.

Common combinations

scantily clad women

The advert was criticized for showing scantily clad women.

scantily clad dancers

The festival parade featured scantily clad dancers.

scantily clad figure

A scantily clad figure appeared on the poster.

be scantily clad

He was scantily clad for such a cold night.

scantily clad models

The magazine cover showed scantily clad models.

Synonyms and how they differ

half-dressed

Half-dressed describes someone partly dressed, perhaps in a hurry, with less judgment than scantily clad.

skimpily dressed

Skimpily dressed focuses on clothes that are too small or thin.

revealing

Revealing describes clothes that show a lot, not the person's whole state of dress.

underdressed

Underdressed means too casual for an occasion, not necessarily exposed.

Opposites

Word family

scanty adjective

too small in amount

scantily adverb

in a very limited way

clad adjective

dressed (literary)

clothed adjective

wearing clothes

Commonly confused: scantily clad or scantly?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “scantily clad”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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