spindly
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of spindly
Explanation
Use the adjective spindly for people or objects that are thin and lanky. A newborn foal looks so vulnerable, with its spindly legs, but it's almost immediately able to stand up and walk. A spindle is a slim wooden rod used to spin wool, and spindly essentially means "like a spindle." You can use it to describe a skinny person's long, thin limbs, like a young ballerina's spindly arms or the spindly legs of an elementary school basketball team. Spindly objects tend to be fragile, too: "These spindly antique chairs make me nervous — I'll sit on the couch."
Vocabulary lists containing spindly
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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15 Synonyms for "Thin": An Eileen Ford (1922-2014) Tribute List
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Lyddie
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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:
In a carefully locked laboratory rows of metal kegs are arranged on shelves and linked together with spindly copper pipework.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
At nearly 650,000 acres, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is known for its sprawling solitude: miles of lunar rock faces and sandy washes frame spindly Ocotillo stands, wildflower superblooms and designated dark skies.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
It’s a verdant thicket of spindly branches that towers over a straw-hatted man in the shadow below, no doubt seeking respite from the heat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
The colt was born while Hunter was driving home for a short break before fall camp, its spindly legs still wobbly in the pasture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
His was the topmost room in the Seaman's Rest, a high and spindly building built on a rocky outcrop to facilitate smuggling.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
The species Dictyota dichotoma becomes a bundle of thick, tangled rhizomes, while Furcellaria fastigiata comprises spindlier, daintier strands that look like nerve endings.
From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2018
"I wouldn't kiss him to save his life," declared Frances; "he's got the spindliest legs I ever saw."
From Miss Minerva and William Green Hill by Calhoun, Frances Boyd
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.
