spidery

American  

[spahy-duh-ree] / ˈspaɪ də ri /

adjective

1. like a spider or a spider's web.

2. full of spiders.

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spidery British  

/ ˈspaɪdərɪ /

adjective

1. thin and angular like a spider's legs

   spidery handwriting

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Etymology

Origin of spidery

First recorded in 1830–40; spider + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Long, black spidery lashes and black eyeliner frame her pale blue eyes, intensifying their iciness.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025

There’s even a physical resemblance: As a Cornish rex, Vlada has huge blue eyes and spidery limbs covered in soft down.

From Slate • Nov. 13, 2023

And on 4 May, after a visit from the matron at 10:30 in the morning, she notes in spidery letters - "I have the virus".

From BBC • Aug. 25, 2023

Cities like Kyiv, captured by the satellite as a spidery web of light before the war, fade and fracture in the ensuing months.

From New York Times • Mar. 30, 2023

The papers were covered in swift, spidery handwriting, in black ink, which was hard to read; it seemed to be a sort of long argument about mathematics, all in French.

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