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
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
Gone were the spindly metal chairs and wobbly tables just unwelcoming enough to discourage lingering.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 13 May 2025
The spindly 6-0, 170-pounder made big strides each season after that.
—Bruce Feldman, New York Times, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for spindly
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
Gone were the spindly metal chairs and wobbly tables just unwelcoming enough to discourage lingering.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 13 May 2025
The spindly 6-0, 170-pounder made big strides each season after that.
—Bruce Feldman, New York Times, 20 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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Trying to shove your lower leg into something like skinny jeans or a condom could end up cutting off blood flow, which clearly would not be good for your calf.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
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Each wave of skinny fixation has echoed like a cultural recoil — a shrinking aesthetic that emerges just as women expand their influence Advertisement But something is shifting.—
Anne Marie Chaker,
Time,
18 June 2025
Adjective
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Riley is a lanky 19-year-old who stands 6-foot-8 and came in at just 185 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
19 June 2025
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The lanky, 6-foot-7 fireballer made his big league debut, taking the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals, after getting called up from the Triple-A Nashville Sounds on Tuesday.—
Jon Vankin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 June 2025
Adjective
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There is some thought that Epenesa could be an expendable player via trade ahead of final cuts, but that would leave them fairly thin given that Hoecht is suspended for the first six games and Bosa has a lengthy injury history, and already has one minor injury to his name since joining the Bills.—
Joe Buscaglia,
New York Times,
18 June 2025
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Still, scientists have long struggled to account for where all of it is located since a large chunk of ordinary matter is spread so thin among galaxies and the vast spaces between them.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
18 June 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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Some people hate nandina, but that’s the old varieties that get humongous and gangly.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
30 May 2025
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Piani did the right thing in casting Rutherford, whose physical embodiment of Agathe suggests a tall, gangly, striking woman trying not to be seen.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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Nolan Traoré, France An intriguing but very slender point guard, the 6-3 teenager should be a first-rounder.—
Tim Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times,
25 June 2025
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Lively became mostly famous for, well, being Blake Lively: tall, slender, beautiful, and suspiciously perfect — a patron saint for the Instagram age.—
David Mack,
Rolling Stone,
10 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spindly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spindly. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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