Meaning & use
skinny drink
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A coffee drink made with fat-free milk and usually a sugar-free flavor syrup.
Grammar: Countable, so you can say a skinny drink or two skinny drinks; often used in coffee-shop orders.
Patterns
- order a skinny drink
- a skinny drink with something
- make something a skinny drink
She always orders a skinny drink with an extra shot of espresso.
I asked for a skinny drink, so please use skim milk and sugar-free syrup.
nouncountableinformal
Any alcoholic mixed drink made with low-calorie or sugar-free ingredients.
Grammar: Countable and common in bar talk; the low-calorie mixer is what makes it 'skinny'.
Patterns
- a skinny drink at the bar
- mix a skinny drink
- serve skinny drinks
The bar was promoting skinny drinks made with soda water instead of sugary mixers.
He wanted a skinny drink, so he chose vodka with lime and soda.
Word forms
| plural | skinny drinks |
|---|
Common combinations
- order a skinny drink
- I'll order a skinny drink while you find us a table.
- a skinny latte
- She switched from a regular latte to a skinny latte last month.
- a skinny cocktail
- They served skinny cocktails with fresh lime juice.
- make it skinny
- Can you make it skinny with skim milk?
- a low-calorie drink
- If you want something lighter, a low-calorie drink is a good choice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- low-calorie drink
- A neutral, general term for any drink with few calories; use it in writing when you do not want the informal cafe tone of 'skinny drink'.
- diet drink
- Usually refers to a sugar-free soft drink rather than a coffee or cocktail, so it fits a can of soda better than a latte.
Word family
- skinny adjective
- Thin or, informally, made with fat-free milk, as in a skinny latte.
Commonly confused: skinny drink or diet drink?
skinny drink vs diet drink
A diet drink is normally a sugar-free soda from a can or bottle, while a skinny drink is a cafe coffee or a low-calorie cocktail.
Practice
At a coffee shop, which order best matches the usual meaning of "skinny drink"?
Choose one answer.
A skinny drink is a coffee made with fat-free milk and usually a sugar-free syrup, so option 1 fits. Option 2 fails because a plain black coffee has no milk choice at all, and option 3 is the opposite of 'skinny' because of the extra sugar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “skinny drink”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.