spindly

spin·dly | \ ˈspin(d)-lē

How to pronounce spindly (audio)

, ˈspin-dᵊl-ē \

spindlier; spindliest

Definition of spindly

1 : of a disproportionately tall or long and thin appearance that often suggests physical weakness spindly legs

2 : frail or flimsy in appearance or structure a spindly tower

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Examples of spindly in a Sentence

spindly, underfed dogs roamed the poverty-stricken village

Recent Examples on the Web Seen from the pool, the deck appeared to cling to the rear facade, and was perched on a small forest of tall, spindly wood posts. — Richard A. Marini, ExpressNews.com, "Helotes home gets resortlike backyard with year-long renovation adding two levels of outdoor deck and patio," 17 Dec. 2020 Depictions of hounds with long torsos and spindly legs have been identified in Neolithic petroglyphs, paintings, and funeral vases in what is now Algeria, Turkey, and Iran. — Ashley Stimpson, Longreads, "Shades of Grey," 31 Oct. 2020 Until now, the flowers have been delicate cups of pink and lavender, spaced along the spindly gray branches. — Danielle Ofri, The New Yorker, "A Bellevue Doctor’s Pandemic Diary," 1 Oct. 2020 The frigid Antarctic waters pack an especially diverse and vibrant array of sea spiders, marine arthropods that grow as large as dinner plates and use their spindly legs for breathing and digestion. — Raleigh Mcelvery, Science | AAAS, "Creepy sea spiders have evolved to be tough," 15 Sep. 2020 Daniil Medvedev, the spindly 6-foot-6 Russian across the net. — Wayne Coffey, USA TODAY, "Frances Tiafoe's remarkable U.S. Open run comes to a halt in Round of 16 vs. Daniil Medvedev," 8 Sep. 2020 Solar Orbiter — a boxy 4,000-pound (1,800-kilogram) spacecraft with spindly instrument booms and antennas — will swing past Venus in December and again next year, and then past Earth, using the planets’ gravity to alter its path. — Marcia Dunn, The Denver Post, "Solar Orbiter blasts off to capture 1st look at sun’s poles," 9 Feb. 2020 Solar Orbiter — a boxy 4,000-pound (1,800-kilogram) spacecraft with spindly instrument booms and antennas — will swing past Venus in December and again next year, and then past Earth, using the planets’ gravity to alter its path. — Marcia Dunn, The Denver Post, "Solar Orbiter blasts off to capture 1st look at sun’s poles," 9 Feb. 2020 Helen Payne, a botanist in Estes’s ecological field-monitoring crew, is on her hands and knees just off the trail on a hot July morning, examining a spindly cedar tree with black burn streaks on its trunk. — Jane Braxton Little, Scientific American, "California Looks to Battle Mega Wildfires with Fire," 20 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'spindly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

24 Dec 2020

Cite this Entry

“Spindly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spindly. Accessed 24 Jan. 2021.

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