lank

[ langk ]

See synonyms for lank on Thesaurus.com

adjective,lank·er, lank·est.

(of plants) unduly long and slender: lank grass; lank, leafless trees.
(of hair) straight and limp; without spring or curl.

lean; gaunt; thin.

Origin of lank

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

Other words from lank

lankly, adverb
lankness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lank in a sentence

His straw-hued hair, brushed back from a sloping brow, hung lankly down upon his coat-collar.
Dope | Sax Rohmer
Tuttle rose lankly, his thin watery eyes staring with fixed impassivity.
Mountain | Clement Wood
Her white cap was awry, and one of yesterday's curls hung lankly over her left cheek.
Pembroke | Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
The damp air wet his hair, and it hung lankly back from his haggard face.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 20, September, 1877. | Various
His hair was a good deal grayer than Lorenzo's, and it hung lankly down to his jawline under a shabby maroon cap.
The Saracen: Land of the Infidel | Robert Shea

British Dictionary definitions for lank (1 of 2)

lank¹

/ (læŋk) /

adjective

long and limp
thin or gaunt

Origin of lank

Old English hlanc loose

Derived forms of lank

lankly, adverb
lankness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for lank (2 of 2)

lank²

/ (læŋk) /

adjective, adverb

Southern African informal a lot; a great deal

Origin of lank

perhaps from Afrikaans lank long

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

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