Meaning & use
thin and lean
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
Having little body fat but still strong and healthy-looking, with firm muscles.
Grammar: Used after linking verbs like be, look, or stay: He looks thin and lean.
Patterns
- look thin and lean
- stay thin and lean
- be thin and lean
After a year of swimming, he looked thin and lean.
The runner was thin and lean, with long, strong legs.
She stays thin and lean by eating well and training daily.
phrasefixed phrase
Describing meat that has very little fat on it.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: thin and lean meat; the steak was thin and lean.
Patterns
- thin and lean meat
- thin and lean cuts
Choose thin and lean cuts of beef for a lighter meal.
The chicken was thin and lean, so it cooked quickly.
Common combinations
- look thin and lean
- He looked thin and lean after the long hike.
- stay thin and lean
- She stays thin and lean by cycling to work.
- thin and lean meat
- Use thin and lean meat for the soup.
- thin and lean body
- The athlete has a thin and lean body.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slim
- Slim means attractively thin, but it does not suggest strong muscles the way thin and lean does.
- wiry
- Wiry means thin but tough and strong; it is often used for people with small, hard muscles, while thin and lean is a more general description.
- slender
- Slender means gracefully thin, often about shape rather than fitness; thin and lean adds the idea of health and strength.
Opposites
Commonly confused: thin and lean or skinny? thin and lean or lean and mean?
thin and lean vs skinny
Skinny means very thin, often in a negative or critical way. Thin and lean is more neutral and suggests good health.
thin and lean vs lean and mean
Lean and mean is an informal phrase meaning efficient and aggressive, often about businesses. It does not describe a person's body.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'thin and lean' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
The phrase describes a person or meat that is slim and strong, so 'He is thin and lean after months of training' fits. Option A describes a liquid, which would be 'thin', not 'thin and lean'. Option C is ungrammatical because the phrase needs a linking verb like 'is'. Option D uses it as a verb, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thin and lean”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.