How do you define "skinny"?

[moaterboat]

The answers to this question

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and this question

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make it seem that women define skinny in a different way than how I would define it.

I would say that skinny means not having curves, and I think that most guys would agree with that.

But the general consensus amongst women is that a woman can have curves but still be skinny. To me that is like saying that a guy can have short legs and a short torso and still be tall. It makes no sense.

So I guess the question I am asking is do you consider skinny and curvy to be opposites?

Updates

+1 y

I think the difference in opinion arises from the fact that men typically see skinny as a negative physical trait. Exactly what constitutes skinny varies from one guy to the next, but wherever a woman is so thing that it starts to become unattractive

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+1 y

*"so thin" is what I meant above.

anyway, that is the point where a guy will consider her "skinny". That is why when a guy calls a girl skinny it is almost always preceded by the word "too".

Women on the other hand seem to use the word skinny as a word

Updates

+1 y

that means thin, slender, petite, or in shape. Neither side is right or wrong, it is just interesting to me that the word means different things to men and women. Thanks for your answers everyone!

[windy-rose]

Somewhat depends on the context and what the girl is getting at when she says it.

Girls tend to, when referring to size, namely be referring to their waist/hips/rump, not their whole figure. Other weight gain/loss areas will be clarified (Ex: "Ugh, I look fat in this" vs "Ugh, my legs look awful")

Skinny is generally regarded as a size, being skinny to me is that slight step below thin, where much lower and ribs will be seen. Generally, the term skinny alone implies a lack of "undesired" body fat. She can still have a bust and hips.

Curvy goes two ways. One- just refers to the hips-waist-bust ratios. More of the hourglass look.

Curvy also extends out to the pleasantly plump so to speak. The girls whose figures are not amorphous blobs, but there is weight there, probably enhancing the curvature that's there anyway.

[moaterboat]

I think you have hit upon the disagreement. It seems that when a girl uses the word skinny, it references the waist area in particular, whereas guys often use it to describe a whole figure.

[windy-rose]

Right- you asked how girls use the word and that's what they do.

[peace-love-couture]

Curvy is body shape, such as hourglass or pear shape, skinny is basically weight. A girl can be skinny and have shape.

You only think a girl can't be curvy and skinny because you seem to think "curvy" means fat, as most girls do too. Curvy is body shape. Girls can be skinny and an hourglass or skinny and a pear shape.

[moaterboat]

I don't think curvy means fat. I think curvy means attractive and feminine. Ask any guy to picture a skinny woman, and the one he imagines will look stick-like. I'm not saying one definition is more right, I just think it is interesting that men and women disagree on the definition.

[peace-love-couture]

No, guys on here were the first to point out that skinny women can have curves.

And everything changes depending on the QA. If it's a "skinny" girl they'll put down "thick" or even curvy girls, if it's a curvy girl they'll put down the skinny girls, it's like they are forced to choose on here

[ManaX]

No skinny and curvy can go together. To me this woman is:

- Skinny link

- Curvy link

- Skinny and curvy link / link

[moaterboat]

I agree the first one is skinny, and the second one is curvy (and awfully hot I might add). The third one isn't skinny, she is in shape, but I don't think most guys would label her as skinny. Last one is tough since it is a side pic, so I found some other pics of her, She is almost skinny, and definitely not curvy. Sure she has breasts, and her hips are slightly larger than her waist, but that doesn't mean curvy to me.

[peacenic]

i see it as skinny,petite,slender,athletic,average,curvy,a little fluffy,fluffier,more fluffier,fluffiest.

so skinny is like ana :(

[windy-rose]

hehehe. The fluffies are the best terminology I've heard for that.

[peace-love-couture]

Ana isn't physical, ana is mental

[zombiefood]

THey are opposites. The point of different terms is that Curvy means you've got a bigger chest, that goes into a narrower waist, then comes back out for decent sized butt and hips. Skinny means you're just straight all the way down. Flat butt, close to flat chest. I'm proud of my curves, I like looking in the mirror at a nice hourglass figure. I mean... It took me 20 years to finally accept my body, and my current boyfriend it all to thank for that.

[moaterboat]

I agree, to me skinny means that all your body parts (or at least most of them) are skinny, skinny arms skinny legs, skinny hips, skinny torso, etc. But most women seem to disagree with you.

[diosadelanoche]

No. Skinny is a size. Curvy is a shape. You can be thin and curvy, or you can be thick with no curves.

[moaterboat]

I agree that a woman can be thick with no curves, but how can a woman be both skinny and curvy? If she has curves, she doesn't have skinny hips and she doesn't have a skinny bust. She may have a skinny waist, but that alone doesn't seem to be enough to label a girl skinny.

[Pancakes]

I'm a size US4 and my measurements are 35-25-36. I'm the thinnest and one of the curviest of all my friends. Being skinny or fat does not define your bone structure.

[moaterboat]

you may have a thin waist, but with measurements like that most guys would not call you skinny. They might call you thin, but thin and skinny are not at all the same thing.

[Pancakes]

I'm definitely skinny. I'm 5'5" and weight 110lbs.