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.
And up on its sixth-story terrace you are above the rooftops of Harlem and can see, far to the south, Central Park and the cluster of spindly supertalls beyond.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
She and Sara Barhoum, who’s now a freshman at Oregon, started working out together during free time between online classes, doing what she could to add strength to her spindly frame.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2025
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
Phage remind me of a moon lander – a big capsule on spindly legs – just instead of landing on the surface of the moon they use their legs to select their victim.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2025
Peter squatted back down, and the closest one, a doe with a spindly spotted fawn beside her, turned her head to look directly at him.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
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.
