as in gaunt
being tall, thin and usually loose-jointed
spindly, underfed dogs roamed the poverty-stricken village
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spindly
Bare, blackened trees with pointed, spindly limbs and black soil that felt strange underfoot, both spongy and brittle.
—
River Selby
august 25, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Signs your plants need attention include pale foliage, spindly new growth, and fewer new flowers.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2025
Batibou Beach is a long, wide crescent of golden sand partially shaded by spindly palm trees ($5 entry, cash only).
—Kristin Braswell, AFAR Media, 14 Aug. 2025
Her mother, Kate Moss, was synonymous with ’90s nightlife style — from slipdresses in Soho clubs to spindly stilettos on the runway.
—Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for spindly
River Selby
august 25, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Signs your plants need attention include pale foliage, spindly new growth, and fewer new flowers.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2025
Batibou Beach is a long, wide crescent of golden sand partially shaded by spindly palm trees ($5 entry, cash only).
—Kristin Braswell, AFAR Media, 14 Aug. 2025
Her mother, Kate Moss, was synonymous with ’90s nightlife style — from slipdresses in Soho clubs to spindly stilettos on the runway.
—Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for spindly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spindly
Adjective
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And in a third, the gaunt 30-year-old killer flexes, purses his lips and squints.—
Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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The apparently recent footage showed two hostages -- Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel -- looking gaunt and exhausted while being driven around Gaza City.—
WAFAA SHURAFA,
Arkansas Online,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Crawford isn’t the only A-lister ditching skinny jeans for roomier styles — Katie Holmes, Olivia Munn, and Margot Robbie have all adopted the leg-elongating denim trend.—
Emily Weaver,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
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The brows, similarly, took on many forms — bushy, skinny, straight and curved.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The lanky midfielder impacted the game by always being in the right place, rarely making mistakes, keeping the game simple with neat, tidy ball recoveries and pinpoint passes through spaces others rarely saw.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
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The lanky, smooth-skating center has also worked out in previous offseasons with Nathan MacKinnon, another vital member of Colorado’s leadership group who wholeheartedly endorsed Nelson’s arrival and the idea of keeping him.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Such devices must be thin and resilient, capable of working where rigid materials fail.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Sep. 2025
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Long wigs and extensions almost always run on the thinner side by default—an issue hair companies still haven’t really solved.—
Noel Cymone Walker,
StyleCaster,
25 Sep. 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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Between them, the gangly mods kept alive the fading tradition of feuding musical geniuses, a path that Paul McCartney and John Lennon had paved before them.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
28 Aug. 2025
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Indeed, at 6-foot-5 but hiding it under a gangly posture, the Australian star can seem younger than his 28 years.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Ostrich dinosaurs walked on two long, slender hind legs and had a long neck with a small head, similar to modern ostriches, experts said.—
Lauren Liebhaber
September 22,
Miami Herald,
22 Sep. 2025
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This further shrank the already slender Republican House majority.—
W. James Antle III,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spindly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spindly. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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