runty
adjEtymology From runt + -y.
1
Having the characteristics of a runt; small and stunted; diminutive.
- From the light above us thin shadows flickered and a runty little image of the defiance in front of me fell on to the table. […] The little runt was still singed and groggy […]1965 June 17, “Love—and Death—in the African Night”, in The Times:
- Only later did I discover that a runty old almond tree, hidden behind a laburnum, riddled with peach leaf curl, […]1969 October 4, Roy Hay, “Peaches and Plums”, in The Times:
1 more example
- Nopcsa’s dinosaurs were not only runty, but primitive as well.2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 23:
- Derived terms
- runtiness