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.

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lank ¹ British  

/ læŋk /

adjective

1. long and limp

2. thin or gaunt

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lank ² British  

/ læŋk /

adjective

1. informal a lot; a great deal

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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

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

As toxic algal blooms in the Klamath basin's main lank threaten the also-endangered suckerfish a month earlier than "normal," water is in short supply and dead juvenile chinook salmon are found every day.

From Fox News ● Jul. 14, 2021

Malcolm brought the canoe up onto the lank and sodden grass under a yew tree, tied the painter urgently to the nearest branch, and hastened to fix the hoops into their brackets.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

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

"My land! he's lanker 'n a bean-pole," exclaimed Mrs. Eichorn, in disgust.

From Lovey Mary by Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice

Dill, looking to Billy longer and lanker and mere melancholy than ever, caressed his chin meditatively and regarded Billy in his wistful, half-deprecating way.

From The Long Shadow by B. M. Bower

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

From A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison

He was lying back in the seat with his eyes closed, and the posture made his face seem even lanker and grimmer than it had at first appeared.

From That Affair at Elizabeth by Burton Egbert Stevenson

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

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

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

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

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