Word.ws English Dictionary

Jack Sprat

Jack Sprat noun: a small or skinny boy or man.

Noun

Jack Sprat (plural Jack Sprats)

  1. (informal) A small or skinny boy or man.
    • John Redford, The Play of Wit & Science
      Heard you ever such a counsel of such a Jack sprat?
    • The other van pulled up behind us, its super-skinny driver, a Jack Sprat to the large guy driving our van, grinning widely as he cut the engine.2009, Rupert Isaacson, The Horse Boy: A Father's Miraculous Journey to Heal His Son

Forms of Jack Sprat

pluralJack Sprats

Origin of Jack Sprat

The name of a character in an old poem, who would eat no fat.

Questions about Jack Sprat

What does Jack Sprat mean?
Jack Sprat means a small or skinny boy or man.
What part of speech is Jack Sprat?
Jack Sprat is a noun.
What is the plural of Jack Sprat?
The plural of Jack Sprat is Jack Sprats.

Words near Jack Sprat in the dictionary

  1. jack screws
  2. Jack Shalloo
  3. Jack Shalloos
  4. jack shit
  5. Jack Sparrow
  6. Jack Sprat
  7. Jack Sprats
  8. jack squat
  9. jack stand
  10. jack stands
  11. Jack Strop

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Jack Sprat (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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