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
In Low Light Don't plant your tomatoes in a shady spot, where the plants will grow spindly and set very little fruit.
—
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 5 Mar. 2026
There dense clouds of dust and spindly filaments of cold molecular gas, the basic matter from which stars form, encircle the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*.
—Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 26 Feb. 2026
Despite the novelty of this world having been exhausted on me long ago, seeing twelve identical borzois in a row, echoing the ornate, spindly verticality of a Gothic revival palace, still tripped me out.
—Andrew Norman Wilson, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
On a dirt road in Imperial County leading toward the Mexico border, the tracks of rare wild sheep press into dusty tire tracks, amid jumbled boulders and spindly ocotillo.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spindly
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 5 Mar. 2026
There dense clouds of dust and spindly filaments of cold molecular gas, the basic matter from which stars form, encircle the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*.
—Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 26 Feb. 2026
Despite the novelty of this world having been exhausted on me long ago, seeing twelve identical borzois in a row, echoing the ornate, spindly verticality of a Gothic revival palace, still tripped me out.
—Andrew Norman Wilson, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
On a dirt road in Imperial County leading toward the Mexico border, the tracks of rare wild sheep press into dusty tire tracks, amid jumbled boulders and spindly ocotillo.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spindly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spindly
Adjective
-
In the courtroom, Alfortish’s face looked gaunt after spending roughly a year in prison, and his hair, thinning now, had gone white.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
-
We’re introduced to its uncanny backdrop through the eyes of protagonist Heinrich, or Hein (Paul Boche), a gaunt young man who returns by boat after 14 years away.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Scapes grow out of the top of each garlic bulb, then coil into long, skinny, green stems that look somewhat like tender, twirly green beans or green onions.—
Karla Walsh,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Apr. 2026
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Hadid kept her accessories monochromatic and simple, partially obscuring her face with a pair of oversized dark brown sunglasses and adding a brown leather skinny belt around her hips.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, as snake plants get older, their long, slender leaves may start to become lanky and floppy or turn yellow and eventually fall over.—
Steve Bender,
Southern Living,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Jeff Goldblum is perfect as the lanky mad scientist doing nude experiments in his warehouse lab, and his wide-eyed transformation into the horny, sugar-hungry man-fly underlines the weird anxieties that Cronenberg always brings to body horror.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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However, higher commodity and energy prices stemming from the conflict have started feeding into Chinese manufacturers' input costs, threatening to weigh on firms' already thin margins.—
Anniek Bao,Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Our strictly historical sources for Paul are thin.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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
-
Differences in Adult Bones That being said, some adults are bonier than others.—
Sam Walters,
Discover Magazine,
3 Nov. 2023
Adjective
-
What to know about wood storks These gangly birds are sometimes called flintheads or ironheads because of their distinctive heads and necks.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
9 Feb. 2026
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War was coming, but for her father, Eberhard, then a gangly teenager, life in Hawaii was an endless summer.—
David Martin,
CBS News,
7 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
However, as snake plants get older, their long, slender leaves may start to become lanky and floppy or turn yellow and eventually fall over.—
Steve Bender,
Southern Living,
13 Apr. 2026
-
To give the entry a unique twist, a long, slender doorway serves as a welcoming focal point.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
12 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spindly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spindly. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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