mal‧nour‧ished /ˌmælˈnʌrɪʃt◂ $ -ˈnɜː-, -ˈnʌ-/ adjective
someone who is malnourished is ill or weak because they have not had enough good food to eat:
malnourished children

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

hungry wanting to eat something:
We were really hungry after our long walk.
It’s hard work cooking for a bunch of hungry kids.
peckish [not before noun] British English informal a little hungry:
I’m feeling a bit peckish. What’s in the fridge?
starving/ravenous /ˈrævənəs/ (also starved American English) [not before noun] spoken very hungry and wanting to eat as soon as possible:
I missed lunch and I’m absolutely starving.
Sam’s always ravenous when he gets home from school.
famished very hungry. Famished is less common and sounds a little more formal than starving or ravenous:
Everyone was famished by the time they arrived.
I could eat a horse! spoken used to say that you are very hungry:
‘Are you hungry?’ ‘Yeah, I could eat a horse.’
appetite the desire for food that you have when you are hungry:
Exercise usually gives me an appetite.
It’s healthy to have a good appetite.
starving not having had enough food for a long time and likely to die soon without food:
Because of the drought, millions of people were starving.
the starving refugees from the war
malnourished formal unhealthy and thin because you have not had the right kinds of food over a long period of time:
According to the report, one-fifth of the world’s population are malnourished.
malnourished infants

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

weak not physically strong, sometimes because you are ill:
Tom’s had flu and he’s still feeling weak.
The doctors said she was too weak to have an operation.
He suffered constantly from a weak chest.
frail weak and thin, especially because you are old:
a frail 85-year-old lady
My grandfather’s becoming quite frail now.
shaky feeling weak in your legs and only able to walk slowly and unsteadily:
When I came out of hospital I was a bit shaky for a while.
puny /ˈpjuːni/ especially disapproving small, thin, and looking very weak:
his puny white arms
He was a puny little boy who was often bullied at school.
feeble especially written weak and unable to do much because you are very ill, very old or young:
For a week she was too feeble to get out of bed.
a tiny, feeble baby
delicate weak and often becoming ill easily:
a delicate child
She had rather a delicate constitution (=her body easily became ill).
infirm formal weak or ill for a long time, especially because you are old:
a residential home for people who are elderly and infirm
There are special facilities for wheelchair users and infirm guests.
malnourished formal weak or ill because you have not had enough good food to eat:
Half a million people there are severely malnourished.
The organization provides emergency feeding for malnourished children.
fragile made of a thin material that is easy to break or damage – used when something needs to be handled carefully:
a fragile china vase
Be careful of those glasses – they’re very fragile.
flimsy not well-made from strong materials and so easily damaged – used about furniture, houses etc:
a flimsy plastic table
This keyboard’s very cheap but it’s a bit flimsy.
rickety /ˈrɪkəti, ˈrɪkɪti/ in very bad condition and likely to break – used about a building, piece of furniture, vehicle etc:
a rickety old bicycle
He lived in a rickety hut on the beach for several years.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲