rangy
Americanadjective
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(of animals or people) slender and long-limbed.
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given to or fitted for ranging or moving about, as animals.
adjective
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(of animals or people) having long slender limbs
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adapted to wandering or roaming
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allowing considerable freedom of movement; spacious; roomy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rangy
Explanation
People who are rangy are tall and thin, with long arms and legs. You could describe a skinny young basketball player as rangy. This adjective most often describes someone who's very tall and slim, or even a little gawky, like a teenager with big feet and long legs who hasn't finished growing and is awkward in their own body. More rarely, rangy means "tending, allowed, or allowing to roam," like a rangy stray dog or a wide, rangy field. It comes from the verb range, or "move freely over a wide area."
Vocabulary lists containing rangy
One of Us Is Lying
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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The Birchbark House
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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:
Unlike the Grateful Dead or Phish, who are known for their rangy improvisations, one Styles concert is usually not that different from the next.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
He came back to the UK partly to study at Exeter University, but an injury to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has given him a chance to show off his rangy running and hot-stepping ability.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
From there, the rangy, focused Noam’s steady first-person account takes center stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
Hawke’s rangy crusader happens to be a magnet for that type of trouble.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
His opponents were gray wolves, rangy and wild, but cousins to the white wolves of the Fjerdan north.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Bogaerts seems likely to play shortstop for the Padres, who can move Kim to second and Cronenworth to first to give them one of the rangier infields in baseball.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2022
A dwarf sport of the larger and rangier ‘Baggesen’s Gold’, ‘Twiggy’ brightens shady parts of the garden, where the foliage will be bright chartreuse.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 16, 2022
Yet, Diaz, more experienced, heavier, rangier and unfazed, kept rolling his hands before throwing.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 11, 2016
All are listed at 6 feet 3 or taller, reflecting Sarkisian and his staff's desire for larger and rangier linebackers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2015
Like his horse, this man was a giant in stature, but rangier, not so heavily built.
From The Lone Star Ranger, a romance of the border by Zane Grey
Bol Bol is nearly half a foot shorter than his father was, but, at 7-feet-2-inches tall, he’s still one of the league’s rangiest players.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2020
At 25, Mr. Westman, a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, is not only the rangiest, but also the youngest of the Hamiltons I have seen.
From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2018
Lawrence Timmons, SteelersArguably the rangiest inside linebacker in the NFL, Timmons broke out with 135 tackles, 11 passes defenses, three forced fumbles, and three sacks.
From Newsweek ● Jan. 19, 2011
In fact, she describes the song as "vocally the rangiest piece we did; the text is so enigmatic and strange."
From Reuters ● Apr. 16, 2010
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.
