lank

American  

[langk] / læŋk /

adjective

lanker, lankest

1. (of plants) unduly long and slender.

   lank grass; lank, leafless trees.

2. (of hair) straight and limp; without spring or curl.

3. lean; gaunt; thin.

---

lank ¹ British  

/ læŋk /

adjective

1. long and limp

2. thin or gaunt

---

lank ² British  

/ læŋk /

adjective

1. informal a lot; a great deal

---

Other Word Forms

• lankness
  noun
• lankly
  adverb

---

Etymology

Origin of lank

before 1000; Middle English lanc, Old English hlanc; akin to Old High German hlanca loin, side. Cf. flank

---

Explanation

Lank can describe grass that is long, hair that is limp, and people who are tall and thin. From the Old English hlanc (which is fun to say out loud), meaning loose and empty, lank is an adjective used to describe plant life which is long and slender, hair that hangs long and limp, and people who are long and slim. So you might hire a lank basketball player with lank hair to cut the grass when it’s lank. Or you might cut it yourself.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lank lanker lankest

But the choice to give Kate aggressively lank, greasy, unkempt hair makes her a lot less watchable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023

He has lank hair to his shoulders and owlish glasses; he looks like he might start shaving in a year or two.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2022

Her hair is lank, unwashed, and she hides herself in oversized clothes.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2022

“He looks convincingly ancient, with lank white hair and stubbly beard, and he performs with the creaky, painful movements of a weary, stiff-jointed old man.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2022

Ged was richly and outlandishly dressed in fur and silk and silver, but the clothes were torn and stiff with sea-salt, and he stood gaunt and stooped, his hair lank about his scarred face.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

There’s one scene in which she backcombs it in a garage forecourt before reappearing, her hair lanker than ever.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2015

Dicky grew slighter and lanker, dark about the eyes, and weaker.

From A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison

These birds are the size of a turkey-cock; but they are lanker and more angular in form.

From Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests by Thomasina Ross

The rounder it is the stiffer and lanker.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7 "Gyantse" to "Hallel" by Various

There was also his board-bill to be settled at the end of each week; and Salmon saw his slender purse grow lank and lanker than ever, with no means within his reach of replenishing it.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 78, April, 1864 by Various

Male Bonding are not the first non-US band to be on Sub Pop, but it still feels like a gesture, even an assertion of sorts, albeit a drawled one muffled by the lankest of fringes.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 28, 2010

He was the puniest, lankest, and leanest of any we had seen on the hacienda, and his single garment was the dirtiest.

From Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. I. by John L. Stephens

The second man of the trio was the lankest and leanest person in the whole forest, and was called Slim Schlurker.

From Tales of the Caravan, Inn, and Palace by Wilhelm Hauff

West Virginia hogs are the longest, lankest, boniest animals in creation.

From The Citizen-Soldier or, Memoirs of a Volunteer by John Beatty

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---