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:
It mixes images of parquet floors; spindly, naked trees; and Sol LeWitt-style stripes in a geometric composition that juxtaposes inside and out, black and white, relaxation and activity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
First spotted bounding across streets in Washington, the Seattle raccoon with an unusual, spindly shape and the scamper of a Tasmanian Devil has been seized on by the internet as a new hit meme.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
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
A spindly plastic tube extended from my forehead to the “Eye Spa” machine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
Inexplicably, Frabwick ignored Clare and chose the medium-sized chair—the one made of ratty fleece and spindly wood.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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 Frances Boyd Calhoun
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.
