gangly
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of gangly
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
Explanation
Someone who's tall, long-limbed, and awkward is gangly. Many teenagers go through a gangly phase before they reach their full height and weight. Gangly people are gawky and skinny, and you could also describe an adolescent colt or puppy with long, ungraceful legs as gangly. The adjective gangly is American, its invention often attributed to Mark Twain, who used it in his 1872 book Roughing It, as a variation on the British word with the same meaning, gangling.
Vocabulary lists containing gangly
"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, Part Four
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The Sea of Monsters
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Born a Crime
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some 17-year-olds are awkward, gangly teens who tend to do or say dumb things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Then, seemingly suddenly, the gangly birds began appearing in greater numbers all over the state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
And in 2018, another "creepypasta" about gangly, besuited monster "Slender Man" was turned into a feature film that raked in $50 million worldwide.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
But bassist Garry Tallent never smiled that much, and Springsteen’s onstage foil, the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, was never awkward or gangly the way he is portrayed here; the man was elegance personified.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2025
The thing was tremendous, a gangly sprawl of clawed arms and legs, and just the sudden intensity of its presence threw Sierra backward.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
He had also wanted to see Rodriguez’s workout regimen in Tampa Bay and visit the pitching lab in Clearwater where Logan Gilbert had been training since he was an even skinnier and ganglier teenager.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2024
Michelangelo is ganglier in his teen articulation, with an ear-to-ear grin painted on his face.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2023
There to collect data on antelopes, she found herself drawn to the ganglier ungulates.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2021
You never know what homework assignment might light a creative spark — better to save even the gangliest drafts for posterity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2017
The deep seats and long arms on the sofa and chairs would accommodate the gangliest of cowboys and gentleman ranchers.
From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
