Stunted means kept from growing to full size. A stunted tree, stunted growth, stunted by the wind.
In public health it is a defined measure: a child is stunted when they are too short for their age by international standards, and it reflects long-term undernutrition rather than a recent shortage. Applied to trees and plants it usually means exposure or poor soil.
1adjectivestuntedKept from growing to full size.
“The plants in the dark corner were stunted and never flowered.”
stunted is a quality of growth.
stunt unknown. Compare Middle Low German stunt (“a shoulder grip with which you throw someone on their back”), Middle English stunt (“foolish; stupid”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA