Ma'anar ƙamus na kalmar "gauntness" shine ingancin kasancewa mai tsananin sira da ƙashi a zahiri, sau da yawa sakamakon rashin lafiya ko yunwa. Hakanan yana iya yin nuni ga rashin nama ko cikar jiki, musamman a fuska ko jiki, wanda ke ba da kamanni ko ƙwari. Ana amfani da kalmar don bayyana wanda a bayyane yake cewa ba shi da isasshen abinci ko rashin abinci mai gina jiki, ko kuma wanda ya ragu da yawa saboda rashin lafiya ko wasu dalilai.