To have dieted to the point of being unattractive, but ironically the dieter in question was only dieting to look MORE attractive.
To look like one has an eating disorder.
Beyond skinny-fat, this person is scared skinny, so as not to endure the pain of being labeled fat, lazy or repulsive, this person has went to extremes to reach an unattractively low weight that is neither healthy, sustainable or sexy in any way.
Example 1
DUDE #1: Did you see the chick that just walked by, she was hot!
DUDE #2: Are you kidding? She looked scared skinny.
DUDE #1: Oh that's right, you like your women bootylicious.
DUDE #2: And you like your women anorexic. Be a real man bro and learn how to handle a real woman!
Example 2
Award-winning playwright and author Mary Dimino claims to have been "Scared Skinny" in her New York International Fringe solo show and best selling book.
Sister: This meeting was to discuss the rough draft of my essay, where we discussed the subsidiary questions I added in my rough draft. We also discussed the relationship between my main title and the real-life situations I chose to use in my essay. We discussed the structure of my essay as well, specifically the Math AOK section and how it relates to the contradiction of the title. This second meeting was particularly helpful in discussing the implications of my essay claims and how to apply the title across various areas of knowledge. There were many sections of the essay that could have been cut down in wordiness and the ways of knowing required further and more in-depth analysis.