Synonyms for lean
verb
To incline
slope, slant, sag, sink, decline, list, tip, bow, nod, twist, cock, place, careen, roll, veer, droop, drift, dip, pitch, cant, bend, heel, be not perpendicular, be slanting, be slanted, be off; see also bend 2, tilt 1.
To tend
favor, be disposed, incline; see tend 2.
See lean in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Synonyms
lean 2spare skinny scrawny lank lanky rawboned gaunt
These adjectives mean lacking excess flesh. Lean emphasizes absence of fat: fattened the lean cattle for market.
Spare sometimes suggests trimness and good muscle tone: “an old man, very tall and spare, with an ascetic aspect” (William H. Mallock).
Skinny and scrawny imply unattractive thinness, as with undernourishment: The child has skinny legs with prominent knees. “He [had] a long, scrawny neck that rose out of a very low collar” (Winston Churchill).
Lank describes one who is thin and tall, and lanky one who is thin, tall, and ungraceful: “He was . . . exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders” (Washington Irving). The boy had developed into a lanky adolescent.
Rawboned suggests a thin, bony, gangling build: a rawboned cowhand.
Gaunt implies boniness and a haggard appearance; it may suggest illness or hardship: a white-haired pioneer, her face gaunt from overwork.
See lean in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II
verb
To depart or cause to depart from true vertical or horizontal:
cant1, heel2, incline, list2, rake2, slant, slope, tilt, tip2. See straightTo have a tendency or inclination:
incline, slant, squint, tend1, trend. See likely
noun
Deviation from a particular direction:
cant1, grade, gradient, heel2, inclination, incline, list2, rake2, slant, slope, tilt, tip2. See rise, straight
adjective
Having little flesh or fat on the body:
angular, bony, fleshless, gaunt, lank, lanky, meager, rawboned, scrawny, skinny, slender, slim, spare, thin, twiggy, weedy. Idioms: all skin and bones, thin as a rail. See fatMarked by or consisting of few words that are carefully chosen:
brief, compendious, concise, laconic, short, succinct, summary, terse. See big, style, wordsCharacterized by an economy of artistic expression:
spare, tight. See style
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