Definitive Jest

Entry: leptosomatic (adj.)


In context: "It's possibly odd that the leptosomatic Mario I., so damaged he can't even grip a stick, much less than flail at a moving ball with one, is the one kid at E.T.A. whose company Schitt seeks out, is in fact pretty much the one person with whom Schitt speaks candidly, lets his pedagogical hair down."

Definition: From leptosomic:  In Kretschmer's system, designating a type of physique characterized by leanness and tallness.

Other: A fun-looking but not particularly low-probability word in Scrabble is sthenic, which is extra fun because asthenic is also acceptable.  Now I actually have a clue what the words means:

1937    R. H. Thouless Gen. & Social Psychol. (ed. 2) vi. 109   [Kretschmer] divides men into three physical types: the athletic (large muscle and bones), the asthenic or leptosomatic (lean, flat-chested, and narrow-shouldered), and the pyknic (with tendency to rounded contours of face and body).

SNOOT score: 1

Page: 79
 
Source: Oxford English Dictionary