as in gaunt
being tall, thin and usually loose-jointed
spindly, underfed dogs roamed the poverty-stricken village
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Recent Examples of spindly
Okay, okay — even though my spindly frame and past-his-prime age both immediately disqualify me from membership in this band of bodacious biceps, I am intrigued.
—
Dalton Ross, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2025
The eyes in the sky gazed down on a copse of spindly trees in western Russia, hooking onto where North Korean forces were coalescing, a Ukrainian special operations forces commander, who is being identified only by his call sign, Green, told Newsweek.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 23 Mar. 2025
That extra-long body and those spindly fingers, the acid blood, and not just one mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, but two.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2024
That’s because the twisty, spindly room centerpiece with large, pointy, deep green leaves is no ordinary tree.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spindly
Dalton Ross, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2025
The eyes in the sky gazed down on a copse of spindly trees in western Russia, hooking onto where North Korean forces were coalescing, a Ukrainian special operations forces commander, who is being identified only by his call sign, Green, told Newsweek.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 23 Mar. 2025
That extra-long body and those spindly fingers, the acid blood, and not just one mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, but two.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2024
That’s because the twisty, spindly room centerpiece with large, pointy, deep green leaves is no ordinary tree.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spindly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spindly
Adjective
-
Egon Schiele had his thing for gaunt girls and their undergarments.—
Gal Beckerman,
The Atlantic,
14 Apr. 2025
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Tall and thin, bordering on gaunt, he was dressed in blue jeans, a flannel shirt, an old Army jacket, work boots, gloves and a blue wool cap.—
Alanna Nash,
Variety,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Here are the shoes to wear with skinny jeans to look chic in Spring 2025.—
Renata Joffre,
Glamour,
19 Apr. 2025
-
Martinis are flowing and skinny French fries are arriving on small plates.—
Kailyn Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
When Wade had entered the league, baggy, untucked dress shirts and oversize suits were the style on draft night; on game days, players draped 5XL sweat suits and Mitchell & Ness throwback jerseys over their lanky frames.—
D. Watkins,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2025
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Cops recovered video of the lanky, mustachioed suspect following one of the attacks.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The water pressure then causes the vehicle to rise and slide on a thin layer of water between the tires and the road, making the driver lose control.—
STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 Apr. 2025
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Ibrahim had black hair and looked thin from malnutrition.—
Clayton Dalton,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Lift your hips off the ground and place a block underneath your sacrum, the widest, boniest part of your pelvis.—
Cory Martin,
Verywell Health,
16 Oct. 2024
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Differences in Adult Bones That being said, some adults are bonier than others.—
Sam Walters,
Discover Magazine,
3 Nov. 2023
Adjective
-
Light pruning results in a gangly, unkempt plant by midsummer.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Nate leaps into action-hero mode, and the film’s mayhem blowouts include a multi-weapon melee in a restaurant kitchen, leaving our gangly hero horribly burned but quite chipper about it, since his adversary is less fortunate.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The borer is essentially a narrow drill that extracts a slender core from a living tree without killing it.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
27 Apr. 2025
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For his slender frame (6-foot-1, 181 pounds), his timed speed is below average and could force teams to look elsewhere.—
Joe Buscaglia,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spindly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spindly. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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