Word.ws English Dictionary

ribbier

ribbier is the comparative form of ribby.

Meaning of ribby

Adjective

ribby (comparative ribbier, superlative ribbiest)

  1. Pertaining to or having ribs; ribbed.
    • In bony, ribby regions of the earth, where at the base of high broken cliffs masses of rock lie strewn in fantastic groupings upon the plain, you will often discover images as of the petrified forms of the Leviathan partly merged in grass, which of a windy day breaks against them in a surf of green...1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick
  2. Specifically, so thin as to have prominent ribs; emaciated.
    • He grew thin and ribby, with narrow shoulders and a breast like a plucked chicken.1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 215
  3. (UK) Shabby, in poor condition.
    • Darbishire glanced at the first manuscript. "This one’s pretty ribby for a kick-off. It’s Binns’ famous effort.”1952, Anthony Buckeridge, Jennings and Darbishire

See all 4 meanings of ribby

Questions about ribbier

What is ribbier the comparative form of?
Ribbier is the comparative form of ribby.

Words near ribbier in the dictionary

  1. ribbeite
  2. ribber
  3. ribbers
  4. ribbes
  5. ribbie
  6. ribbier
  7. ribbies
  8. ribbiest
  9. ribbin'
  10. ribbing
  11. ribbingly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ribbier (page history and authors); ribby (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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Cite this entry: “ribbier.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ribbier. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.