close to the bone
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.42 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Penetrating and relatable, to the point of causing discomfort.
adj
Example Sentences
- "The author now brings economics to the personal level, asking and pondering these uneasy, but close-to-the-bone questions: Are we economic people or self-developing persons? Should we look to the proletariat or to all those who love life? Are we suffering from exploitation or from negative symbiosis?"
- "So it’s morally complex and sometimes uncomfortably close to the bone, but also lushly bawdy and funny, and packaged together with an astonishing degree of cinematic brio by first-time writer-director Marielle Heller."
- "First came the plague, then the flood, and now the fire. This has been a biblical summer, one where the doomsday warnings of climate scientists have felt increasingly close to the bone."
- "We've lived close to the bone and saved every cent we could, and there's no undisputed claim now that we can't cash…"