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Synonyms

straggly

American  
[strag-lee] / ˈstræg li /

adjective

stragglier, straggliest
  1. straggling; rambling.


Etymology

Origin of straggly

First recorded in 1865–70; straggle + -y 1

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:

Two years ago, he turned several straggly islands off Miami into blooming lily pads by surrounding them with hot-pink fabric.

From The Wall Street Journal May 7, 2026

His hair was a mess of seaweed, the straggly green strands bobbing up and down on the surface of the water.

From Salon Apr. 28, 2024

His floor-length fur is straggly and windblown, giving him a disheveled look incongruent with this toy breed’s stereotypical silky-smooth fur and ribbons in their hair.

From Slate Jul. 15, 2023

Frequent gripes were that the hill was not high enough to see over trees in nearby Hyde Park, rendering obsolete the "viewing" platform, and that the plants and grass were straggly and patchy.

From BBC Sep. 1, 2021

She didn’t say anything about my hair, either, which is super long now, and really straggly.

From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy

It wasn’t too long before we were all stretched out, a long and straggling line that got longer and stragglier the farther we went.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

In the last and straggliest of those streets which runs along the sea like a sea-wall there is a very honest but rather sharp-tempered member of my flock, a widow called MacNab.

From The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

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