Leptodermatous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by having a thin or delicate skin layer; describing organisms or individuals with a fine or slender dermal covering; pertaining to the condition of possessing a narrow or slight epidermis
2. Denoting a slender skin structure often implying fragility; referring to specimens with a fine, thin integument; relating to having an unusually narrow or delicate cutaneous layer
3. Indicative of a subtle, thin skin or covering; applied to entities marked by a light or slender outer layer of skin; associated with possessing a fine, attenuated dermis

Etymology: "Leptodermatous" is built from two Greek elements: "leptos", meaning thin, fine or slender, and "derma", meaning skin. The "-ous" ending is the common English adjective suffix, which turns the combined noun-based stem into a descriptor of something that has the quality described. Put together, the word describes creatures or people whose skin is unusually thin. The word is a technical coinage rather than an ancient one. Its Greek parts are classical, but the English adjective was assembled from them in modern scientific terminology, so no Greek writer ever used this exact form. The same building blocks appear in other medical and zoological words, such as "pachydermatous", where "pachys" means thick, which describes the opposite condition. A close variant, "leptodermous", drops the middle "-at-" and means the same thing. Both forms are used, and the longer one is simply the more elaborated of the two.

Synonyms: thin-skinned, delicate-skinned, fine-skinned

Antonyms: thick-skinned, rough-skinned