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
But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the moon's south pole and was declared dead within hours.
—
Arkansas Online, 6 June 2025
The exterior was refreshed with a new face and tail, to give it a more modern look than the spindly grille of the pre-facelift model.
—Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 5 June 2025
Snaking through the salons of an old Paris mansion, the circuitous catwalk is marked with bundles of spindly wood branches and vibrant floral blooms, adornments that add an ethereal air to the silk-stocking grandeur.
—Courtney Crowder, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025
The spindly youngster is at the beginning of a journey that will successively turn him into one of the most promising, one of the most unfortunate, one of the most maddening and ultimately one of the most celebrated football players in the world.
—Tom Williams, New York Times, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for spindly
Arkansas Online, 6 June 2025
The exterior was refreshed with a new face and tail, to give it a more modern look than the spindly grille of the pre-facelift model.
—Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 5 June 2025
Snaking through the salons of an old Paris mansion, the circuitous catwalk is marked with bundles of spindly wood branches and vibrant floral blooms, adornments that add an ethereal air to the silk-stocking grandeur.
—Courtney Crowder, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025
The spindly youngster is at the beginning of a journey that will successively turn him into one of the most promising, one of the most unfortunate, one of the most maddening and ultimately one of the most celebrated football players in the world.
—Tom Williams, New York Times, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for spindly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spindly
Adjective
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In addition to a very gaunt appearance, other symptoms include: Extreme weakness Thin, dry skin with excess skin folds due to loss of fat Sparse, brittle hair that can be easily plucked out 8.—
Jonathan Purtell,
Verywell Health,
13 June 2025
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Recent photos of Bieber out and about show him looking gaunt and disappearing into his clothes.—
Shirley Halperin,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Right where the mural would be painted are two skinny wall panels between a set of balconies with a metal wall jutting out on the right.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
12 July 2025
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In 2025, the bandage dress is experiencing a resurgence alongside the rise of a new skinny culture, fueled by the popularity of Ozempic and similar GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, as well as social media trends such as SkinnyTok — a diet culture that is widespread on TikTok.—
Renan Botelho,
Footwear News,
11 July 2025
Adjective
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Having lived in Paris with Richardson on and off since late 1921, Hemingway was a struggling writer who could be spotted scribbling in Left Bank cafés—a tall, lanky Midwesterner with unkempt hair, wearing sneakers, old trousers and a patched jacket.—
Tony Perrottet,
Smithsonian Magazine,
30 June 2025
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The Ducks selected the lanky center (6-foot-5, 198 pounds) 10th overall in the first round of the NHL draft on Friday, making the Brandon Wheat Kings pivot the 11th forward in the Ducks’ past 14 selections and their third straight top pick up front.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
28 June 2025
Adjective
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The Series 10 is also thinner, lighter, easier to wear, and charges faster than previous models.—
Adrienne So,
Wired News,
12 July 2025
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Often, the first real cracks appear in prime borrowers who were stretched thin, quietly falling behind while headlines focus on everything else.—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
12 July 2025
Adjective
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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
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And for the current Bulls front office, that prototype is crystal clear — gangly, teenage wings who offer the potential of versatile playmaking in a raw, unproven package.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
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But a local coach nicknamed Taha noticed a gangly, tall-for-his-age 7-year-old and invited him to play for the AAU program Banneker Kings.—
Sam Cohn,
Baltimore Sun,
25 June 2025
Adjective
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As Artaserse, Kim’s performance took some time to ripen on Friday, his voice sometimes vanishingly slender and lagging behind the orchestra in his first aria to Semira.—
Hannah Edgar,
Chicago Tribune,
28 June 2025
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Here again, binoculars will prove most beneficial in helping to find not only Pollux and Castor, but this exceedingly slender lunar sliver.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spindly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spindly. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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