Enjuto

[poli]

I came across this word for thin while reading the newspaper. My Spanish speaking associates were unfamiliar with the term ¿Injusto?, they asked. Is this an obscure word better to know than use?

[JPablo]

Enjuto = lean, gaunt.

CREA has many examples:

http://corpus.rae.es/creanet.html

Here is just one:
Físico menudo, delgado, rostro enjuto, cabello largo, medias bajas, toda la pinta del potrero, Ivo Basay, la luz que enseñó Chile en la Copa América. - ¿Creés que están en condiciones de eliminar a Brasil?
- Por supuesto. Si no fuera así, si no tuviésemos ilusiones de clasificar, nos hubiéramos quedado en nuestro país. Esa es la ilusión que tenemos todos los componentes de este plantel. Si un jugador cualquiera no cree en el triunfo de su equipo, mejor que no salga a jugar ningún partido. Y esto no tiene nada que ver con faltarle el respeto al adversario. Es una cuestión de tener motivaciones cuando se sale al campo de juego y nada más. Nosotros respetamos a los brasileños, pero confiamos en nuestras virtudes y temperamento.
- ¿Y cómo le van a jugar?
- Nosotros no tenemos alternativas: si deseamos continuar en el torneo, si pretendemos algo
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
AÑO: 1987 AUTOR: PRENSA TÍTULO: Clarín, 03/07/1987 : IVO BASAY PAÍS: ARGENTINA TEMA: 05.Deportes PUBLICACIÓN: (Buenos Aires), 1987

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I agree with Pablo. The word means lean or skinny.
Like when something is so dry, that it has become small and thin... like a raisin.

It's not a word you'll hear everyday, but it is a word you will find in literature quite often to describe bonny and gaunt people. It's also more frequently used to describe old people who have become smaller with age. (My grandfather, who died at 92 years old used to say "me estoy enjutando" meaning that he was feeling thinner and smaller every day.)

[poli]

Thanks to both of you. Me estoy enjutando really clarifies it for me. It sounds like I'm shrinking, and it sounds like better Spanish to me than estoy encogiendo which is the way I would have said it prior to my knowledge of enjutar.

[aleCcowaN]

Enjuto is even more than lean. It's the level of skinniness that looks toward emaciated, but not close to piel y huesos.

Here in the 'hood they'd talk of someone chupado, meaning with empty cheeks, a face like it looks while sucking with the mouth shut.

[Glen]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

chupado, meaning with empty cheeks, a face like it looks while sucking with the mouth shut.

Maybe because they've lost their teeth & can't afford dentures

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Not necessarily; although it's frequently associated to old people, it can be applied to those who are young and with all their teeth; they're just too skinny and/or gaunt.

[JPablo]

No olvidemos que Don Quijote era un tipo "enjuto de carnes"... ¿no?

[aleCcowaN]

"Era de complexión recia, seco de carnes, enjuto de rostro, gran madrugador y amigo de la caza. Quieren decir que tenía el sobrenombre de «Quijada», o «Quesada», que en esto hay alguna diferencia en los autores que deste caso escriben..."

[JPablo]

Ah, eso, "enjuto de rostro"... :-)

[ROBINDESBOIS]

It´s a literary term I believe.