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Suffix · forms adjectives

-skinned

Describes skin tone or, figuratively, how sensitive someone is to criticism: thick-skinned (not easily offended) versus thin-skinned (easily offended).

In Spanish: de piel / sensible / resistenteLiterary

Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated August 2026

What this suffix does

-skinned forms compound adjectives that describe both the literal quality of skin and the figurative capacity to absorb criticism, insult, and difficulty without damage. Thick-skinned and thin-skinned are among the most psychologically precise compounds in English: they describe not just how someone responds to criticism but how they are constituted to respond to it. Dark-skinned, fair-skinned, and brown-skinned describe physical appearance. The figurative compounds (thick-skinned, thin-skinned) are the more literarily interesting: they use skin as the boundary between self and world, suggesting that resilience is a kind of membrane thickness.

How it is formed

Adjective + skinned.

  • thick + skinned
    thick-skinned (not easily offended)
  • thin + skinned
    thin-skinned (easily offended)
  • dark + skinned
    dark-skinned

This is not a productive rule you can apply freely: it is a closed set of fixed expressions. Learn them one by one as set phrases.

How it is pronounced

-skinned

Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.

Examples

Base word
With -skinned
In a phrase
  • thickthick-skinnedYou need to be thick-skinned to work in comedy.
  • thinthin-skinnedHe's too thin-skinned to handle criticism well.
  • darkdark-skinnedThe sunscreen works for both light and dark-skinned people.
  • fairfair-skinnedShe's fair-skinned, so she burns easily in the sun.
  • toughtough-skinnedSome fruits are tough-skinned and hard to peel.

Common mistakes

thick-skinned = insensitive and unfeeling as a general character trait
thick-skinned = specifically resistant to criticism, insult, or negative external judgment

"Thick-skinned" describes a protective resistance to criticism, rejection, and negative social feedback — not general emotional numbness. A thick-skinned person can still feel love, joy, grief, and anger deeply. The "thick skin" is specifically a defense against the external judgment of others. Being thick-skinned is almost always considered a professional and social virtue.

thin-skinned = physically having thin or delicate skin
thin-skinned = easily hurt or offended by criticism, rejection, or negative feedback

"Thin-skinned" in figurative use = emotionally vulnerable to criticism and negative judgment; easily hurt or destabilised by social disapproval. The metaphor suggests that the boundary between self and the outside world is unusually thin, allowing every critical blow to penetrate deeply. It is usually used as mild criticism — a person should ideally be resilient enough to handle some negative feedback.

A trick to remember it

Thick-skinned and thin-skinned are one of those rare compound pairs where both words are in common everyday use and mean precisely opposite things on the same spectrum. The skin metaphor works because skin is literally the boundary between inner self and outer world: a thicker skin means a stronger boundary, greater protection, more resistance to what comes from outside. In creative writing these compounds are powerful precisely because they are so anatomically precise — they locate emotional resilience in the body.

Practise what you learned

Exercise 1 · Form the word

Fill in: "The ___ critic could dismiss any review, any rejection, any hostile audience without losing a moment's sleep." (resistant to criticism, not easily hurt by negative judgment)

Hint: Thick + skinned = whose skin (boundary with the world) is thick and protective.

Exercise 2 · Pick the right one

"She was too thin-skinned for the online debate format, where every position was immediately attacked." What does "thin-skinned" mean here?

Exercise 3 · Form the word

Fill in: "The ___ athlete had learned early that every training session would hurt and every coach would push hard, so he simply stopped fighting the discomfort." (having developed strong resistance to difficulty through experience)

Hint: Tough + skinned = whose skin (resilience) has become tough and resistant.

Frequently asked questions

What does the suffix -skinned mean in English?

The suffix -skinned describes skin tone or, figuratively, how sensitive someone is to criticism: thick-skinned (not easily offended) versus thin-skinned (easily offended). In Spanish it usually maps to de piel / sensible / resistente.

Can you give an example of a word with -skinned?

"thick" becomes "thick-skinned". It is a typical example of the -skinned suffix.

Other useful suffixes

  • -hearted

    Describes someone's emotional character: warmhearted (kind, affectionate) and coldhearted (unfeeling, unkind).

  • -natured

    Describes someone's underlying character: good-natured (kind, easygoing) versus ill-natured (bad-tempered).

  • -willed

    Describes how strong someone's willpower is: strong-willed (determined) versus weak-willed (easily swayed).

Learn every English suffix

-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.

View all suffixes
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