Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1897-1904, 1956
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SKRIFT, n. Also scrift, skriff. A very thin or lean person, animal, or object, a thin piece or slice of a substance such as bread, cheese, wood, etc., a fragile object (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; I.Sc., Ags., Per. 1970). Deriv. skrifty, lean, spare (Ork. 1970).Sh. 1897 Shetland News (19 June):
Da drought 'ill be brunt up her bits o' skrifts o' buirds.Sh. 1904 E.D.D.:
A pör aamis scrift o' a ting. A boat built of thin wood is termed a scrift o' a boat.Ork. 1956 C. M. Costie Benjie's Bodle,115, 181:
He wis wan o' yin peerie skrifty men aboot the colour o' a moth. . . . Yin scrifty, scrunty t'ing; thir's a hantle o' differ atween denty an' scrifty!
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"Skrift n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/skrift>
