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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SHILPIT, adj. Also -et, shelpit; shilped, shilpid (I.Sc., Cai.); chilpit (ne.Sc.). [′ʃɪlpɪt; ne.Sc. + ′tʃ-]

1. Thin, emaciated, puny in growth, shrunken, pinched, with sharp starved-looking or drawn features (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 26; Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Gen. (exc. I.) Sc.), gen. of persons, also transf.; “of a sickly white colour, pale, bleached by sickness” (Rxb. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry Gl.).Edb. 1812 P. Forbes Poems 24:
Wi' shilpit look an' shiverin' heart.Sc. 1818 S. Ferrier Marriage xxiv.:
The Laird pronounced her to be but a shilpit thing.Slk. 1832 Trans. Highl. Soc. 295:
The white-faced shilpit-like wretches.m.Sc. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 60:
We'd let ye thaw yer cauld blae feet, Yer shilpit neb an' a', John.Bwk. 1879 W. Chisholm Poems 23:
White as snaw, his shilpit cheeks.Edb. 1895 J. Tweeddale Moff xviii.:
“Hoo's 'e lookin'?” “He's shilpiter.”Per. 1901 I. Maclaren Young Barbarians xii.:
He was a little man, and gey shilpit about the neck.Dmf. 1912 J. L. Waugh Cracks wi' R. Doo 100:
I took her bit shilpit, wrinkled haun.Abd. 1926 L. Moon Drumorty 94:
He's unco chilpet and hungry-like aboot the jaw-bones.Ags. 1927 V. Jacob Northern Lights 11:
The shilpit sun is thin.Ayr. 1945 B. Fergusson Lowland Soldier 25:
Ye'd say he was thin, Peelywally, bow-leggit and shilpit.Gsw. 1951 H. W. Pryde M. McFlannel's Romance 82:
Ministers' caurs are shilpit bit things bys thon monster o' Bill's.Gsw. 1970 George MacDonald Fraser The General Danced at Dawn (1988) 167:
Baxter hesitated. "He called me a shilpit wee nyaff, sir." The president stirred. "He called you what?" Baxter coloured slightly. "A shilpit wee nyaff." wm.Sc. 1989 Anna Blair The Goose Girl of Eriska 16:
There was one shilpit wee lawyer who had always been very civil to Will, used his name to him too ... Sc. 1991 R. Crombie Saunders in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 29:
The shilpit mune of autumn
Keeks wanly thro the mirk,
The manse stauns bien and doucelik
In the yaird ablow the kirk. em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 82:
'I don't think ye're being very nice,' said the guy. He stood up, and Carlin saw for the first time what a puny, insignificant, shilpit wee nyaff he really was. Ayr. 2000:
Are ye no weel? Ye're richt shilpit.

2. Of ears of corn: small and thin, not well-filled or plump (Sc. 1856 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 725).

3. Spiritless, craven, timid. Hence shilpetness, faint-heartedness, lack of spirit.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 419, 425:
I had never been at a battle; a kind o' shilpetness cam ower me. . . . A shilped wretch — a heart stripped of manliness.m.Sc. 1979 John Kincaid in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 31:
There is a tendency to glorify the violent, the shilpit, the ignorant.

4. Cheerless, cold and comfortless, ungenial (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Ork. 1950).

5. Of liquor: insipid, wishy-washy, thin (Sc. 1808 Jam.; I.Sc. 1970).Sc. 1814 Scott Waverley xi.:
He pronounced the claret shilpit.Sc. 1818 Blackwood's Mag. (June) 248:
Any Shilpit Liqueur in their stock.Rxb. 1824 W. Wilson Poems 18:
‘Tis but poor shilpet stuff; I wad nae hae a gallon o't.

6. Sour, bitter, having lost its freshness, e.g. of milk (s.Sc. a.1838 Jam. MSS. X. 285; Sh., Ork., Cai. 1970); also fig. of speech: tart, snappish.Sh. 1901 Shetland News (5 Oct.):
Yon blash o' dirt 'at shu got frae da doctor . . . hit was shilpid.Ork. 1920:
She his an awful shilpid wey o' spaekin'.Sh. 1956 New Shetlander No. 43. 22:
Some sweeties are aafil shilpit, or sour.