1
: consisting of or bearing fibers or filaments
a thready bark
2
a
: resembling a thread : filamentous
b
: tending to form or draw out into strands : ropy
3
: lacking in fullness, body, or vigor : thin
a thready voice
threadiness noun

Examples of thready in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
His pulse was thready and fast, his belly distended, his bowel ominously silent. Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 8 Feb. 2011 Simard’s transformative contribution to arboreal science has been to explain the function of mycorrhizal networks—a webbing of thready fungi, reticulated through and expanding beyond tree roots, fastening trees to one another in the soil. Rebecca Giggs, The Atlantic, 17 June 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of thready was in 1597

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Cite this Entry

“Thready.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thready. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

1
: consisting of or bearing fine threads or fibers
a thready bark
2
: lacking in fullness or vigor : thin
a thready voice

Medical Definition

1
: resembling a thread
2
: of, relating to, or being a thready pulse

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