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Synonyms

gangling

American  
[gang-gling] / ˈgæŋ glɪŋ /

adjective

  1. awkwardly tall and spindly; lank and loosely built.


gangling British  
/ ˈɡæŋɡlɪ, ˈɡæŋɡlɪŋ /

adjective

  1. tall, lanky, and awkward in movement

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of gangling

1800–10; akin to obsolete gangrel gangling person; cf. gang 1

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.

The best known is NASA's ER-2, a derivative of the U-2 spy plane with a tiny fuselage and gangling, oversized wings.

From Scientific American • Sep. 20, 2023

An awkward, gangling kid, he failed to make the team at Hoover Junior High School.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2022

He's also given the tall, gangling, slightly cadaverous writer ill-fitting clothes and cabbage-patch hair which he thinks were characteristic.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2017

“This is hard, Charles,” Skelton said to Charles Davis, a gangling and talented freshman forward.

From New York Times • Jul. 16, 2015

The gangling steward backed away, his hands upraised as if to say, Not me, it was not me.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin