Skeletal means relating to the skeleton, or resembling a skeleton in being very thin, bare, or reduced to essential parts.

Your skeletal system is all the bones in your body: 206 of them, connected by joints and held together by ligaments. When doctors study skeletal structures, they examine how bones fit together and support the body. Archaeologists find skeletal remains at ancient sites, studying bones that have survived for thousands of years after everything else has decomposed.

The word also describes things stripped down to their most basic form. A skeletal outline of an essay shows just the main points without details or examples. A skeletal crew means the minimum number of workers needed to keep something running, like when a store stays open late with only two employees instead of ten. A skeletal framework of a new building shows just the steel beams before walls, floors, and windows get added.

Sometimes skeletal describes someone or something extremely thin, where you can see the bones clearly. A tree in winter might look skeletal with bare branches against the sky. A person who is severely malnourished might appear skeletal. While the word is factual when describing actual skeletons or frameworks, calling a living person skeletal usually suggests unhealthy thinness.